


Mishaps and Mayhem

by sansonaxy



Category: GOT7, Stray Kids (Band), TWICE (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Mob, Angst, Crimes & Criminals, Fights, JYP ensemble - Freeform, Mentioned SEVENTEEN Ensemble, Slow Build, Violence, and mentions of other groups
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2019-08-18 19:39:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 28,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16523381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sansonaxy/pseuds/sansonaxy
Summary: Youngjae has the absolute worst case of 'wrong place, wrong time.' He just wanted his wallet back.





	1. Chapter 1

Youngjae isn't scared of where he lives. He can't afford to be.

He wishes it was a little nicer but living in the shadier parts of the city doesn't really guarantee top-notch anything. The apartment is small, his neighbor is a drug dealer, and the sirens always sound a little too close, but it's the only thing he can afford on his pitiful bank account. Youngjae likes to think of himself as a pretty positive person though, so he tells himself it's not all bad.

The apartment is cozy and plenty enough for him and his (dog) daughter Coco, his neighbor has the decency to deal away from the building, and the sirens flashing around the area make him feel a little better about being nosy. Like right now.

"Oh, no! I didn't think he was a dealer too," Youngjae says, peeking at the spectacle down the street.

"How do you know him hyung?" Yugyeom frowns, but he's glued to the window too. Yugyeom lives on the other side of town in a more respectable area, but it doesn't matter. Everyone knows the entire area is run by the gangs.

"He offered me drugs once, but I think he thought I was a girl."

"Oh my god," Yugyeom cackles as they move away from the window. "Did you say yes?"

Youngjae smacks him with the couch cushion, offended. "Obviously not!" He isn't a prude or anything, but Youngjae has just never had any interest in doing drugs. It's hard to avoid being offered some though, he's pretty sure a fourth of the people living in the building are dealers or at least on something.

"I'm joking!" Yugyeom laughs. "I'm hungry, do you have anything to eat?"

Youngjae shakes his head. "No, I was gonna go shopping. Do you want to come with?"

"Sure. Ooh, you should get the raspberry chocolates I've been telling you about!"

"I'm not spending fifteen dollars on a bag of chocolate."

Yugyeom protests, insisting that Lindor raspberry chocolate truffles are 'god tier', but Youngjae ignores his friends rambling all the way to the grocery store and grabs a basket quickly.

"Can you get Coco's treats?"

"You'll spend fifteen dollars on dog treats but not on chocolate?!"

"Yes," Youngjae answers immediately, shooing him away. "Now, go."

"Fine," Yugyeom huffs, muttering about how they can get caramel flavor if Youngjae doesn't like raspberry.

Youngjae ignores him, making through the aisles happily. He likes grocery shopping because it's simple. No over-thinking, just grab the necessities and go and it's what he does, heading to the check-out when Yugyeom calls him.

"Which ones are they?"

"The ones with the cute doggy on the front."

There's a sputter on the other side. "That's like all of them hyung!"

"The green ones," Youngjae sighs, struggling to hold up his phone, wallet, and basket.

"There are like five different green ones!"

"The green ones with the doggy that looks like Coco!"

"So, the funny looking one?" Yugyeom snickers.

"My daughter is not funny-looking!" Youngjae shrieks. "It's the green ones with--Ah!" 

Youngjae isn't looking where he's going and runs into someone, dropping everything. His phone clatters to the ground and he almost has a heart attack when the basket falls right next to it, just inches away from crushing it. 

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Youngjae apologizes, bending down to separate his things from the other persons and he almost laughs. There's an absurd amount of strawberry flavored EVERYTHING mixed in with his own stuff. SMall strawberry milk boxes, ice cream, pink and red candies, yogurts, a small slice of strawberry cake, even strawberry-flavored chapstick. Oddly enough, there's no actual strawberries.

He's about to make a joke when he locks eyes with the other person and immediately re-thinks that move. The other guy's gaze is one of pure irritation and Youngjae understands, but his slanted cat-like eyes are unsettling and the very air around him screams hostility in a way that makes Youngjae nervous, so he just lowers his gaze carefully.

"Watch where you're going," the man spats harshly and Youngjae flinches, mumbling another apology. 

The guy scoffs, gathering his strawberry-themed snacks quickly. "Whatever." He kicks the rest of the things towards Youngjae and leaves. 

"Rude," Youngjae stands, pouting when he's sure the guy is far enough away. He definitely doesn't want to tangle with that him ever again.

"Hyung, what are you doing?" Yugyeom approaches behind him.

"Nothing, I just ran into someone and we dropped our stuff. He was rude though," Youngjae says, lip curled in distaste. 

"Well, I got the treats." Yugyeom tosses them into the basket along with a bright golden bag, grinning. "And this."

"Oh my god, Yugyeom, I said no chocolate!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Maybe next time I suggest you bring backup, you'll listen."

"Shut up."

"How are you gonna get it back, idiot?"

"Shut up, it's his fault for running into me," Jaebum growls. "And don't start with that backup shit, who needs backup just to go to the grocery store?"

"Apparently you."

Jaebum groans, sinking into the couch, head tilted back to look out the window of their five story office. The view is nice enough and the building is spaceious but what he really enjoys about it is that the building is actually theirs. Him and Jinyoung. Most people probably prefer a subtler, in-the-shadows type of operation but not them. With his fearlessness and Jinyoungs mastermind they went from preteen punks swiping candy to the unquestioned leaders of an extensive criminal empire.

They have connections in China, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Los Angeles, and just about anywhere else. Usually that means they have enemies everywhere too, but Jaebum is ~~reckless~~ fearless against Jinyoungs advice and roams the streets like he isn't a crime lord with a price on his head. 

"What should I do then?" Jaebum spats. "I can't just randomly show up to his apartment, who knows if he even still lives there!"

Jinyoung shrugs, amused. "Why not? Worst case scenario, he realizes who you are and freaks."

"Why aren't you more worried about this?!" Jaebum glares. "What if he calls the cops on us or something, I can't stand having them on our ass all the time! Or what if the kid throws it away? I fucking HATE going to renew that shit I'd rather shoot--!"

"Hyuuung, I'm baaack~!" 

Jaebum groans. He doesn't have the patience to deal with this. "Ugh, already?"

"Aww, you didn't miss me?! I came back just for you hyung!"

Jinyoung frowns. "He's right, why are you back so soon Jackson? If you half-assed this deal just because you wanted to come home--"

"Relax, hyungs!" The Chinese man scoffs. "When have I ever slacked on anything?"

Jinyoung gives him a look.

"That hurts," Jackson pouts. "I'll have you know I finalized the deal and everything in just three days! I even had time for tea!"

Jaebum frowns. That's unusual, to say the least. "Three days.....Jinyoung?"

"Yeah, I'll look into that," he says, frown deepening. "Based on the last time we dealt with them we were expecting to resort to 'other' measures."

"I know, I even brought that Seungmin kid with me and told him be ready!"

Jaebum frowns. "Why'd you take that kid with you? He's a rookie, he doesn't even speak Mandarin!"

"No, that was a good call," Jinyoung sighs, headache forming. "He's the best sniper we have, but I don't know why you didn't take Tzuyu with you, she's fluent."

"She's too pretty!" Jackson pouts. "It's intimidating and distracting during negotiations!"

Jaebum scoffs. "So? Use that. I'm surprised you don't walk into meetings shirtless."

Jackson sputters, protesting about Jaebums 'cold heart,' when in walks Jinyoungs second head-ache.

"Yo, Jackson you're back man!"

"BamBam!" The other squeals, pouncing on his friend. "Wait-- you're back too?"

"Yeah, why are you back?" Jaebum growls. "I told you to take a week." One of his people finishing a mission early was a miracle, but two in a row? Around the same time? No, this wasn't feeling right. Jackson and BamBam are good, but they aren't that good.

"I only needed three days," BamBam shrugs, grinning. "Everything went pretty good, I even had time to visit my mom."

"Me too!" Jackson smiles. "She gave me more tea!" 

"Touching," Jinyoung says, but he's not happy. He needed to figure out what was going on and he needed to do it quickly. He turns to his partner. "Jaebum, the kid's not going to be a problem. He didn't recognize you then, he's not going to now so just check the address and hope for the best. Worst comes to worst, you'll have to renew everything and as much as I'd love to see that, I have some things to sort out."

"Wait, what's going on?" BamBam frowns.

"Yeah, where are you going hyung?" 

Jinyoungs lip quirks. "Jaebum has a...situation, nothing he can't handle but I'm sure he'd appreciate some help."

"Fuck off," his friend groans.

"Gladly," Jinyoung smirks. "Have all our people update their positions to Nayeon and tell Changbin we need every line monitored. I'm taking Jeongyeon with me but we'll be back by the end of the week."

"Hyung, where are you going?" Jackson asks again, concerned now. Jeongyeon is who they call when things gets messy. Really messy.

"Errands." Is all Jinyoung says, then leaves, still smirking.

"So....what's the problem?" BamBam asks. "Do we need to bring in some of the rookies? Or Momo?"

Jaebum scoffs. "I wish."

"What happened hyung?!" Jackson asks for the millionth time.

"Nothing," Jaebum grumbles. "I'll deal with it, just tell Chaeyoung to have a car ready in five minutes."

"What kind of car?"

"A bulletproof one."


	3. Chapter 3

"Why? Why me?!"

"Should we throw it away?"

"I don't know!"

"Why'd you have to run into that guy of all people hyung?!" Yugyeom whines. "How did you not notice?"

"I don't know," Youngjae groans. "I didn't even know it wasn't my wallet until I was paying!"

"....Is it wrong that I wanna take the cash?"

"Yugyeom!"

"I'm sorry!" Yugyeom whines again, but Youngjae is right. This wasn't good. 

Out of all the people, in all of the grocery stores, in all the world; Youngjae just had to walk into the same one as an actual mob boss. Then on top of it all they just HAD to switch wallets. What kind of rom-com tv drama shit was that?

"What kind of criminal has a real drivers license?!?" Youngjae cries. "Isn't that like against the rules or something?!"

"Can we just throw it away then? He probably doesn't need it, right?"

"But my address is on mine, what if he comes looking for his and finds out we threw it away and-- YAH!" Youngjae screams and Yugyeom screeches.

"Hyung, what the fuck?!"

"Someone's at the door!" Youngjae whisper-yells, pointing and they pause, waiting.

"I don't hear anything....Are you-- AH!" Yugyeom jumps when the banging on the door resumes. 

"I told you!" Youngjae yells, running to peek out the window. "I told you there was....Oh, shit. Oh, shit! Oh, shit!"

"What's wrong, is it another dealer?" Yugyeom looks out next to him and gasps. 

"WHY ME?!" 

 

**

 

"Are you really letting him walk in there like that?"

"It'll teach him a lesson."

"But what if he gets shot?"

"That's what a vest is for," Jinyoung says, matter-of-factly.

"That's what the car is for," Jeongyeon laughs. "I can't believe you made Chaeyoung tell him we didn't have any left. Aren't ALL our windows bulletproof?"

Jinyoung nods, smirking. He's driving one of them right now. "He knows, which is why he'll know better next time."

"He does know where he's going, right?"

"Oh, he knows. Your lovely leader just has a penchant for chaos, so next time I warn him maybe he'll realize that."

"Is that why you brought me? I thought we had that area under control for the most part."

"We have a few....troublemakers that've been getting rowdy but no, that's not why."

Jeongyeon frowns. Normally, she's called if there's a real mess to clean up, but she hasn't heard of anything going wrong lately. "Does this have to do with us reporting to Nayeon every hour?"

"She already gave notice about that? Good."

"Are--are we going to the airport?" She asks, recognizing the roads.

Jinyoung nods. "Sana will have our things ready by the time we land."

Jeongyeon groans, not because of the last-minute trip, but because that means Sana will pick their clothes. Sana is cute and her fashion is too, but Jeongyeon is more trendy whereas Sana is a lot more traditionally girly with her looks. 

"Where are we going?"

"China."

She knows Jackson returned from there not more than an hour ago, but says nothing. It's almost been a year since her team started working with Jinyoung's, but it only took a day for her to realize it's easier not to question things. Her team trusts him and everyone knows Jaebum and Jinyoung would never lead them into something they weren't sure they could win.

"I guess I'll brush up on Mandarin," Jeongyeon sighs. "Oh, look Jaebum-ssi is calling." She points to Jinyoungs phone.

Jinyoung smirks. "He can leave a message."


	4. Chapter 4

Jaebum is already annoyed with pretty much everything so when he goes down to the garage to find a fucking minivan waiting for him, he resists the urge to snap at Chaeyoung. The girl (kid) is already awkward enough around him and blowing up at her when this is clearly his partners doing won't make it any better. 

So he gets into the car, irritated and calls Jinyoung ready to scream but the bastard isn't answering his phone.

"Haha, very fucking funny Jinyoung," he spats when he hears the voicemail tone. "Why the hell do we even have a minivan in the garage, do I look like a freaking soccer mom?! I know you're just fucking with me too, there's no way you didn't reinforce this car! You're SO lucky you're going to China--- yeah I know where you're going, I know how you think Park Jinyoung-- when you get back I swear--!" The phone beeps, cutting him off and he swears again, throwing it to the side. 

They may be partners (and best friends) but Jinyoung lives to mess with him. They've spent _years_ together and he knows how to drive Jaebum up the fucking wall and off a cliff better than anyone else. He won't deny that he's thought about maybe listening to his friend and taking his advice, but he knows how that'll go. Jinyoung would hold it over him until they die.

"If I get jumped I swear...." Jaebum mumbles again, but he's already parking. The address on the license led him to an apartment complex on the far side of town, a place he's currently working on controlling.

Him and Jinyoung have conquered nearly the entire city, save for a few smaller areas on the outskirts like these, but even the people working here know they can't take his people on. JYP Nation, JYP Family is what they're 'officially' known as, courtesy of the original leader who just so happens to share a name with Jinyoung. 

He smirks to himself, remembering how pissy Jinyoung used to get when people would ask if he was related to the guy.

"One day, everyone will forget all about that old man," he'd tell Jinyoung. "When they hear JYP Nation, they'll think of you, they'll think of us. When we take over, they'll know who the real leaders are."

And they did take over.

It wasn't easy. The 'nation' was used to the old man, didn't think or know they could do better under someone else. There were challenges at first, you don't just over throw a literal gang leader and expect everything to fall into place but they did it. There were people against them, obviously, but those were either...removed or persuaded to side with them.

It was easy to maintain control after that, especially when they recruited Jihyo and Bang Chan's teams. He doesn't interact with them too much, but Jinyoung knows how to read people and connect with them and he assures Jaebum both groups are loyal.

It's comforting to know there are people on his side besides just Jinyoung. They built something together though and he wasn't going to let anyone threaten that. Especially not some kid living in what was technically considered enemy territory.

"Better have my shit," Jaebum mumbles. The complex is old, unimpressive and he can already tell it's nothing more than a dealer den as he climbs the stairs to the third level. Still, he's wary and feels for the cold metal of his gun on his side. He briefly wishes he'd worn a vest but brushes it off when reaches the top of the complex.

You'd think that as a mob boss he'd have other people deal with shit like this for him, but Jaebum prides himself on being in on everything that's going on in his operation. He isn't like those other so-called leaders that just throw their people into things without a care. He cares.

He walks to apartment 303 and knocks, eyes darting to the window when he hears muffled yells from inside. "Please still live here," Jaebum groans when it goes quiet. If this kid doesn't have his wallet, he's going to be pissed. There's no way it could be with anyone else though so he bangs on the door even louder and he's sure he hears shuffling and more screams. 

"Hello? I know there's someone in there, is it Choi Youngjae? From the supermarket? The address was on the ID and I'm pretty sure you have mine!" He says as calmly as he can muster.

There's more shuffling inside and he swears he sees movement from the window on his right. They know. They have to by now.

"Fuck," he sighs to himself. If Jinyoungs 'worst case scenario' actually played out, Jaebum was going to lose it. "All right, look I don't know what's going on but all I'm here for is my fucking wallet, okay? So let's just switch back and you won't ever have to see me again, I'll forget about you and you forget about me."

Silence. No shuffling or screams or anything.

Jaebum curses, moving to pound on the door again when it finally opens and a mop of fluffed black hair peeks out.

"Hi."

"You aren't the guy from the supermarket." This guy was clearly a lot taller, six foot at least, paler and with much wider shoulders than the person he'd collided with at the store.

"Uh, n-no I'm not."

"Well?" Jaebum growls. "Does Choi Youngjae live here or not?"

The boy flinches, peeking inside behind him, stuttering. "Oh! Y-Yeah, he does. Youngjae-hyung just isn't uh home right now?"

"Really?" Did this kid think he was stupid?

"Yes, he is uh at work right now."

"Okay, well I have his wallet and I'm pretty sure he's got mine. Tell me where he works so I can get this sorted."

"D-Did I say work?" The guy yelps, cheeks flushing. "I-I meant he's sleepi-- Uh I mean in the shower, yeah he's showering."

Jaebum sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay, can you let me in then? I'll wait for him."

"No! I-I mean, I'm sorry but the house is kind of a disaster right now, Coco uh she made a mess and Youngjae-hyung doesn't really like visi-"

Jaebum cuts him off. "All right, listen kid I don't know what the fuck a Coco is and I don't care. And I don't give a fuck if your friend-- boyfriend, whatever the hell you two are-- is at work, in the shower, or performing at the fucking opera, okay? Just. Give. Me. My. Wallet. Now."

The boys mouth opens and Jaebum swears he's going to kill him if he lies again, but instead the guy sighs and the door is pulled back to reveal the familiar dark brown hair. 

"H-Hi!" This is Choi Youngjae, flustered just like he remembers.

"Give me my wallet," Jaebum glares. He's done with this.

Youngjae nods rapidly, but doesn't move. "Y-Yeah, yeah, okay! Sure, but h-hypothetically speaking-- totally hypothetical of course-- what if um I was in line at the store and hypothetically I r-really needed food and uh may or may not have used some of...your...money?" He finishes, wincing.

"And hypothetically w-we can't pay it back," the other guy adds.

Jaebum exhales sharply, running an irritated hand through his hair. "Hypothetically, I'd make you pay one way or another."

Youngjaes grip on Coco tightens and Yugyeoms eyes squeeze shut. This is it. They're going to die now. They haven't even made it to their thirties and they're going to die. Just great.

"But realistically....Just give me my fucking wallet back and like I said; I'll forget you and you forget me."

"R-Really?" Yugyeom squeaks and Jaebum nods.

"Go get it, quick!" Youngjae hisses and his friend runs inside, leaving Youngjae (and Coco) alone. With Jaebum. The mob boss. Alone.

It's awkward. It's unbearably awkward standing here with this guy and Youngjae can't bring himself to look at him. His grip on Coco just tightens more and he bites at his lip until he finally thinks of something to say 

"So..." Youngjae starts. "How's the uh mob?"

Jaebum almost laughs and he can tell Youngjae immediately regrets speaking, but he just raises a seemingly unbothered brow at the guy and says nothing. Youngjae fidgets under his steady gaze, eyes trained on everything except Jaebum as he pets his dog nervously.

It seems like an eternity before Yugyeom returns and Youngjae sighs in visible relief when he does, wallet in hand.

"H-Here you go," he says, holding out his other hand for Youngjae's wallet. 

Jaebum goes to reach for it when suddenly he's on his knees, cursing.

People always talk about getting shot like you can feel it coming, like you can feel it in the air before it happens but not long enough to stop it. As someone who's been shot at multiple times, Jaebum thinks that's absolute crap. Things don't slow down, there's no such thing as slow motion. They speed up. One second you're moving around perfectly fine and the next you're in crippling, breathtaking pain. The adrenaline kicks in and you can either let it overwhelm you or you can use it. 

In this case, Jaebum harnesses every bit of it to push the two screaming (and a barking Coco) guys into the apartment before throwing himself on the floor. He lands on his back and watches three more shots fly above him, ringing when they hit the railing behind him. Someone cries for the police and another shot whizzes past him, grazing jacket this time and his vision blurs. There's someone in front of him, at the other end of the landing and he watches them scramble down the steps. The shooter.

"Oh, my god! Call the police Yugyeom, quick!"

Dammit, no. He can hear the commotion of residents below them.

"What do you mean no?!" Youngjae shrieks. "You just got shot Jaebum-ssi!"

Ah, so they did know who he was.

"Of course we know who you are!" Yugyeom whines, struggling with an anxious, howling Coco. "Oh my god, is that a gun?!"

"F-Fuck! Wait! Just wait-- just don't call the police!" Jaebum groans and he yells when he tries to sit up. "Ah, shi--!" 

"Oh my god, don't move!" Youngjae cries. There's so much blood. There's so much blood pooling out and all around Jaebum and Youngjae doesn't know what to do except what he's seen on countless doctor shows. "Please don't move!" He says again, ripping off his sweater and folding into a pad to press down on where he thinks the blood is coming from. He thinks it works though, if Jaebums cries are anything to go by.

"Fuck, that hurts!" Jaebum screams.

"N-no, I can't no, this is too much. I'm calling the police and an ambulance." Yugyeom is shaking, rattled and dials.

"Fine!" Jaebum snarls when he realizes he can barley move, much less stop the kid. "Gah-! God, this fucking hurts! Here! C-Call Woo...Woojin," he breathes out, trying to get his phone out but it's useless. His eyes are clouding over and he's panting, air catching in his throat. He can't breathe. He can't fucking breathe.

"W-What? No, Jaebum-ssi w-we need to wait for the ambulance! J-Jaebum-ssi!" Youngjae screams, watching Jaebums eyes flutter. "Yugyeom, what do we do?!"

"I don't know hyung!" The other boy cries, tears filling his eyes. How was he supposed to know how to deal with a fucking mob hit?! They didn't exactly teach him to anticipate something like this in school!

"Why, why, why, why?!" Youngjae chants, screaming again. 

"Ph-Phone," Jaebum rasps. "Call J-Jackson...Woojin..." Is he sleepy? Everything still hurts but he feels like he's about to faint.

"Jaebum-ssi!"


	5. Chapter 5

Woojin's definition of a normal day is waking up, exercising, studying, doing check-ups, and that's pretty much it. As the resident nurse-in-training (he hasn't graduated yet), a good day is one where he doesn't have to treat anyone. Treatment means someone has been hurt and lately, he'd been proud of JYP Nationao for going a whole thirteen days without incident.

Usually, their streak is broken by some (dumb) accident. Sana-noona tripping down the stairs and almost giving herself a concussion or Felix pulling a muscle while trying to show off for his boyfriend. Simple, silly things like that and it's okay. It's enough to remind him he's a medic but not enough to make him feel worried. Not like when one of them gets shot.

"Shit, someone get Jisung for me please." Is the first thing he says when they bring Jaebum's unconscious body in. It's looks bad. Really bad, but he doesn't panic. He can't, not if he's going to be the one taking care of him.

"I'm on it." Nayeon runs out.

"What, why do you need him? I thought you knew what you're doing!"

"He does Bammie, right?"

Woojin barely pays them attention, already sterilizing his hands and preparing everything he's going to need for this. It's been a while since one of them had been shot, a year almost. Surgery isn't something you just forget though. "Hyungs, please clear the room I can't have people in here during surgery."

"I'm here!" Jisung runs in, hair brushed back and mask already on.

"Surgery?! It's just a bullet, in and out!" BamBam almost screeches.

Woojin let's out an exasperated sigh. He doesn't have time for this. "It didn't go clean through, I think there's still a piece left inside. I need Jisung to assist in getting out, we know what we're doing hyung. We've done this before and we need to start right now if we want things to be okay. Leave hyungs. Please."

BamBam starts to protest again but Jackson cuts him off. "We understand. We trust you Woojin. Do your best," he says, gaze firm before leaving.

"I don't know if that was reassuring or a warning," Jisung mumbles when they're gone. Despite the man's usually playful demeanor, they all knew Jackson Wang was no one to mess around with.

"Doesn't matter," Woojin waves it off. As a medical professional, it's his job to treat everyone to the best of his ability. Always. "Let's save the leader."

They get to work and although Woojin waved off Jackson's 'threat', Jisung notices a bit more caution in the other's movements. He doesn't point it out though. They both know what's at stake here. The procedure lasts almost two hours and there are a few times where Jisung honestly feels like they're going to lose it but they succeed. Jaebum is alive and safe and so are they. When he's stable they move him next door to rest in a bed while they clean.

"I need a drink," Jisung whistles when they finish.

Woojin scoffs. "You're underage. Besides, we have to brief Jinyoung-hyung."

"You didn't hear? He and Jeongyeon-noona left for China this afternoon, they aren't here."

"I guess I'll brief Jackson-hyung then, you can go let everyone know it went well," Woojin sighs. At least that's two less check-ups today.

 

**

 

Jackson is perfectly capable of taking charge. He's the undisputed, sole leader of any and all Chinese operations and has more than twenty people reporting to him on a daily basis. Being in charge isn't anything new.

However, being in charge because one leader is gone and the other shot doesn't exactly make for an easy segue. Jinyoung isn't gone gone of course but the flight means they won't be able to get in contact with him until later that night. And Jaebum isn't expected to wake any time soon.

"He's fine though, right?" BamBam asks for the millionth time. He was taking this rather hard. 

Woojin nods, resisting the urge to sigh. "Yes, he's perfectly fine. It was only one piece. We got it out carefully and sewed him back up quickly."

"But he hasn't woken up!"

"He lost a lot of blood," Woojin explains. "All that blood, plus us operating on him is going to take a toll but he's fine. It would've been a lot worse if that guy hadn't done what he did, but I wouldn't count on hyung waking up too soon."

"Speaking of this other guy, how'd he know who to call?" BamBam scowls. Things weren't adding up and he wasn't liking it. Jaebum wasn't one to just go out and get himself shot like that and he'd never mentioned those guys he was with, so what the hell was going on?

Jackson sighs, leaning back into the couch. They were in Jaebums office but it felt strange without the leader. "He did call from hyungs phone, so he might've told him what to do..."

JYP Nation is well-known, but they don't exactly release a list of members or anything. Only a handful of people knew about the roles of each person in the organization, but none of those people include a Choi Youngjae or Kim Yugyeom.

"Have that Changbin kid run their names," Jackson decides. "They may have saved our leader but we don't know who they are or what Jaebum-hyung was doing with them. They stay here until we've figured this all out."

BamBam nods and leaves, scowl never leaving his face. 

"Do you think they would set him up just to save him?" Woojin asks. "That sounds a little insane."

Jackson sighs again, exhausted. He's still jet-lagged and had been planning on actually sleeping when the news about Jaebum came. "It's a possibility, yeah. They have him shot, convince us they saved him, gain our trust and infiltrate. Or they could've been paid to lure him there and panicked when they realized they set him up to be killed. There's a lot of things that could've happened."

"That sounds rather paranoid hyung."

"I wouldn't put anything past the outskirts, Jaebum-hyung might not talk about it but those areas still aren't completely under our control."

"That's where he was shot?" Woojin wasn't surprised. The city may be run by a gang (their gang) but it wasn't dangerous. Their admittedly criminal activities were all concentrated in one large district where it was easier to control, but the rest of the city was normal except those few spots.

Jackson nods, solemn. "The apartment complex out west with all the solo dealers. We think their suppliers are from a couple cities over, but we haven't been able to confirm anything."

"Hyung, I appreciate being kept in the loop," Woojin says, carefully. "But why are you telling me all of this? You know I can't help with it."

"Actually you can." Jackson stands. "While Changbin runs their names, I want you to 'treat them for shock' or whatever and get a feel of what they really are."

"You mean whether they're spies or just civilians?"

"Exactly!" Jackson beams but there's none of his usual warmth behind it. "You're a doctor, you're nice, they'll like you."

"I'm studying nursing but point taken. Where are they?"

 

**

 

Yugyeom isn't sure what higher power he believes in, but there were plenty of signs from that deity that he really shouldn't have left the house today.

His car had no gas that morning, his parents were leaving on a week-long trip, Youngjae wouldn't buy any chocolate, things like that. The biggest one probably should've been when they discovered that wallet but it wasn't until a man was shot in front of him did he truly realize he should pay more attention to these signs. Suffice to say, he was still flipping the fuck out.

Yugyeom had called the police but he knew they were far and that they'd be in no rush to get there. Youngjae's neighborhood was infamous for bogus 911 calls that usually turned out to be petty squabbles or prank calls. By the time the cops actually arrive, they had been tossed into the back of a mysterious black van with nothing but a glare and where on their way to god knows where. Yugyeom's not ashamed to admit he cried a little bit either and effectively shut down, how else is he supposed to react?!

"It's okay, no one knows how to react in those situations."

"Youngjae-hyung did though," Yugyeom grumbles.

"That was from doctor shows Yugyeom," the other sighs. Turns out watching all those dramas paid off a little. 

"It's good that he did that. Our people will know you tried to help."

"I hope so...No offense, but how are you with them?" Yugyeom whispers. "You seem so normal and nice, Mina-ssi."

The girl laughs softly. Everything about her is soft down to her quiet, reassuring voice and gentle eyes. Even the baby blue sweater draped on her small frame looks airy and delicate. She looks like a sweet, normal girl who should be studying for a teachers certificate at a quaint coffee shop. Not someone committing fraud in ways he's never even knew possible for a gang.

"Thank you," she smiles shyly. "But I'm not as nice and normal as you'd think Yugyeom-ssi, what I do is technically illegal." Technically illegal was understatement. Yugyeom had never seen so many fake passports and ID's before in his life. 

"I think what he meant is you seem....different from the what we thought," Youngjae explains, hugging Coco close to him. His poor daughter had been through so much today, they all had. Witnessing a possible mob hit and then being borderline kidnapped by gangsters didn't exactly do wonders for their anxiety. Yugyeom, especially.

He knew his friend and although the other was calmer now, Youngjae could still see his hands trembling around the cup of warm tea Mina had insisted they drink. 

"Your friends aren't really big on hospitality," Yugyeom mumbles, recalling how they'd been forced into the building by the two men and then thrown into Mina's work-room. 

"I'm sorry about that," Mina winces. "They just want to know what happened, our leader-- our friend-- Jaebum-ssi was shot after all."

"We had nothing to do with that though!" Yugyeom promises. "We went to the supermarket and Youngjae-hyung must've grabbed the wrong wallet when they dropped their stuff, that's why he was there!"

Mina almost laughs. "He was buying strawberry candies, wasn't he? Or was it strawberry milk?"

"Both! Wait, how did you know that?" Youngjae frowns.

"Jaebum-ssi loves strawberrry. Candy, cake, milk, ice cream, anything. That market has his favorite brand of milk," Mina explains, smiling fondly. "It isn't very far from your house, is it?"

"N-No, it's like five minutes. Ten when we walk there, I-- he said he got the address from my license."

Mina stands, smiling at them again. "Okay, I believe you...I'll get us more tea," she says, despite the fact that no ones cup is even near empty. She leaves though, shutting the door   
behind her softly.

"Well?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think they were involved. Jaebum-ssi went to the grocery store near the complex this morning again and he ran into the brunette. He says they ran into each other and dropped their things. They must have switched wallets then and that's why leader was at the apartment complex."

Jackson snorts. This was rich. "Switched wallets? What tv drama did they get that from?"

"They seemed genuinely shocked," Mina sighs. She really doesn't like when they put her on interrogation. They always think just because she's nice and quiet that people will open up to her, but she can honestly never tell whether people are being genuine with her.

"They could be faking," Jackson spats. "Spill a few tears, act all shaky and confused. Woojin?"

The other boy shrugs. "Like you said, anything is possible. Do you still want me to talk to them?" 

"No...No, not yet. Changbin and BamBam are almost done. Move them upstairs."

"Upstairs? I-Is that really necessary?" Mina bites her lip nervously.

"They're not going to hurt them...right hyung?"

"If they have nothing to hide they'll be fine," Jackson says coldly. "They're staying until Jaebum-hyung wakes up or Jinyoung returns."

"B-But I thought Jinyoung-ssi barely left."

"And I can't be completely sure when hyung will wake up. It could be tomorrow, could be later," Woojin adds. 

"Too bad. Our leader was shot, this wasn't an accident. Whether or not they had anything to do with it is--" Jacksons phone buzzes, cutting him off.

" _Please_ tell me someone else isn't hurt," Woojin prays, bridging the pinch of his nose. He can't take another one, not today.

"Is everything okay?" Mina worries when she sees the gleam in Jacksons eye. 

"No," he growls. "They're lying."


	6. Chapter 6

"Can you please tell us what's going on?" Yugyeom whines for the millionth time.

"We already told Mina what happened, she believes us." Youngjae adds.

"If these two don't shut up..."

"BamBam," Jackson chides. "Be nice. Like Mina."

"I have class early tomorrow morning and I didn't even get to lock my apartment so please, can we just leave already?"

"Maybe."

"What do you mean maybe?! Why are we still here, just let us freaking leave!" Yugyeom groans. He's fed up and confused.

It took Mina almost an hour to return with 'tea' but there was nothing. She just had them moved somewhere upstairs, barely looked at them and just mumbled about how she'd take care of Coco for them. Then she locked them in this room for another _two hours_ until these two guys barged in, the ones with from the sketchy ass van.

"Look," Youngjae says carefully. "If this is about what we saw or what happened...we won't tell anyone. We just wanna go home."

"Yeah, we've already told you we had nothing to do with this!" Yugyeom pouts, frowning.

Jackson nods slowly, taking their words in. Seems it's time play. "Yeah...Yeah, okay we appreciate that. We understand that, don't we Bammie?"

The other says nothing, eyes still boring holes into the two men across the table.

"Okay, then can we leave now...?" Youngjae asks again.

"No, we're not done yet," BamBam spats, glare intensifying.

Yugyeom groans again. This wasn't making any sense. "Why?! We haven't done anything wrong!"

"Ah," Jackson smiles but his gaze is cold and predatory. He leans back in his chair, arms crossed and head tilted. "See, that's the problem Yugyeom-ssi. One of you is lying."

Yugyeom and Youngjae protest, exchanging confused looks. 

"What are you talking about? We're telling you the truth!"

"What could we possibly lying about?! Hyung is just college student and I've barely graduated!"

"We've told you EVERYTHING," Youngjae insists. "Jaebum-ssi and I switched wallets by mistake, it was--"

Jackson laughs, a hollow, mocking sound that cuts him off. "Ha! Right, I forgot that was the story you're going with."

"It's not a story, it's what happened," Youngjae scowls. "I'm not lying! We aren't lying!"

"Then who is Kim Taehyung?"

"Who?" Yugyeom asks and BamBam smirks. 

"Why don't you ask your hyung?"

If Youngjae wasn't confused before he definitely is now. Why do they want to know about Kim Taehyung? How do they even know the guy? That was ages ago.

"Kim Taehyung? I-- He was in my art class in high school I think."

"Really, that's it?!" Jackson almost screeches, eyes bulging and lips drawn into a wild grin. "That's cold Choi Youngjae, you don't even remember dating him?"

"Dating? What do you mean dating?! We went out for coffee like twice! He wanted to ask me out at the end of the semester but I knew he was moving, so I said no! I barely remember the guy much less dated him! What does--?" 

Jackson cuts him off once more, absolutely fed up with the. He stands up so suddenly the chair falls back with a crash but it still isn't as loud as him slamming his fists on the table as he screams at Choi Youngjae who's not even three feet away from him. 

"STOP. LYING!"

Yugyeom jumps, flinching at the sudden outburst but Youngjae is pissed. He's pissed so he throws his chair back too, standing to yell right back at the other with a look so fierce Yugyeom almost didn't recognize him.

"I'M NOT! I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM SINCE HIGH SCHOOL!" 

Jackson laughs again, shrill and starts pacing. His fists are shaking and clenching, breath coming in almost as wild as the look in his eye. This was just incredible.

"Wow...WOW. Yugyeom, your hyung is either the STUPIDEST PERSON ALIVE or he just doesn't care what happens to you at all!"

"H-Hyung! What're they talking about?" Yugyeom cries.

"I don't know!" Youngjae screams but regrets it when Yugyeom winces again. "I really don't know! I barely knew Kim Taehyung-- I mean we're fucking Facebook friends but who even uses Facebook anymore?! What does he even have to do with this, with us?!"

"If he doesn't stop playing stupid, I swear I'm going to shoot the both of them," BamBam snarls, standing next a heavily breathing Jackson.

Jackson takes a deep breath and runs his hands through his hair roughly. "No," he sighs. "No, you're not. We aren't shooting anyone, not yet." He smiles again, still empty. "We're going to give our guests exactly five minutes to sort this out, just between them. If we come back and you two don't have answers-- REAL answers-- then BamBam gets his wish."

"Answers?!" Youngjae practically shrieks. "Answers to what?! We don't even--!"

The two men ignore him, BamBam smirking to himself as they leave.

Yugyeom screeches the moment the door slams shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first of all, hi everyone!! My first authors note an I wanna say thank you to everyone who's been reading and leaving kudos and comments!! I really appreciate it and that you guys validate my bad writing lmao. Second of all sorry this chapter was so short :/// School and work have been taking up most of my time but I promise the story is just getting started!! So I hope you all stick around haha


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing Jinyoung does when he boards the plane is turn off his phone and sleep. He's never liked flying and he doesn't need Jaebeom calling to yell about the mini-van the whole way.

His friend would have to get over it, he always does. Jinyoung's been fucking with him since they were kids and vice versa. Jaebeom can play the victim all he wants but this friendship is a two-way street, it's always been. Messing with each other is what keeps them sane.

"I still can't believe you did that." 

"If it makes you feel any better, I lied about the windows. They're bulletproof," Jinyoung smirks and Jeongyeon chuckles.

The flight passes quickly and they make it through security easily enough. Jeongyeon is pleasantly surprised when they reach their hotel, luggage already waiting in their adjoining but separate rooms. Sana certainly has taste.

The hotel is an easy twenty stories tall with balconies on every other floor, complete with an epic view of the bustling city of Hong Kong. They don't get a chance to explore but Jeongyeon is sure the place has a rooftop pool and unlimited bar if the crowd in the lobby was anything to go by. Too bad they won't get to enjoy any of it.

"I'm surprised she didn't book us a five-star," Jeongyeon muses as she rifles through the complimentary pamphlets on the desk. Sana has a tendency to overspend when sending their people overseas, especially when they go to Hong Kong or Japan.

Jinyoung scoffs. "Four-star is fine, we aren't here for the luxury."

"What are we here for then?" Jeongyeon finally asks. "I've notified my contacts like you said but none of the local operatives know we're here....Does this have something to do with Jackson coming back early?"

She'd been thinking about it the whole flight but hadn't said anything. Jackson returning so quickly was certainly a surprise but it didn't shock her too much. Jackson was a good negotiator and he wasn't above using alternative means to get things done, that much she knew.

Jinyoung however, nods. "And BamBam. He came back early too."

"BamBam came back early?" Jeongyeon frowns. Now _that_ was unusual. She didn't have many contacts in Thailand but the ones she did assured her breaking into their market wasn't easy. BamBam was well-known there, respected and feared even, but there was no way he could've finished what they anticipated to be a week-long negotiation so soon.

"Jackson finished in two days but stayed a third for his mom, BamBam finished in only three."

"Three days? Before you sent him one of my agents said there was almost no way they'd agree to our deal, this can't be right I need to call him," Jeongyeon says, already reaching for her phone.

"Later," Jinyoung says. "We'll figure out what's happening first. I know you say they're loyal but I don't trust all of our contacts. If you call so soon after one of our people just left, they might think we're onto them."

"Okay...Okay, yeah you're right," Jeongyeon sighs but she's unsettled. This wasn't making sense. Her informants _never_ lied to her, they knew better.

"Who are we meeting then?" 

"No one yet. Call Sana first and have her make a reservation at one of those restaurants she's always raving about. We'll go from there."

"Did she pack us outfits for that?" Jeongyeon asks, hoping he says no but knows he won't.

Jinyoung nods. "I told her to, just in case. She also said to take pictures if we wear them or she'll 'accidentally' blow up the cafeteria again, so please don't let me forget."

"Oh, god I won't," Jeongyeon laughs and heads to her own room. They're connected through the bathroom, which is a little weird but convenient. "Don't forget to turn your phoen back on Jinyoung-ssi!"

"I won't," he calls back and settles into the almost queen-sized bed to check his phone. They aren't here to relax but it's not like he's going to say no to a memory foam mattress. He's not crazy.

_1 voicemail, 8 missed calls, and 2 unread messages_

The voicemail is from Jaebum and he snickers, glad he didn't answer as he listens to his friend yelling and cursing him about the mini-van. Serves him right for going to so much trouble for some damn strawberry milk when there's a vending machine that has it in their own building.

The missed calls are from Jackson and BamBam though and he almost brushes them off until he sees the messages from Jackson and dials quickly.

**!URGENT!**

**_CODE: K E N DO -- D E F S O U L_**

********

********

"What happened?" He says the moment Jackson picks up.

"H-Hyung! Why didn't you didn't answer your phone?"

"I was on a plane, what's going on Jackson?"

The other sighs, pausing. "He was shot, hyung."

Jinyoungs blood runs cold and his heart clenches. He knew the code meant something was wrong but he didn't think it was this bad. No one in their group had gotten shot in a long time, almost a year. His breath hitches as he grips his hair harshly and bites his lips in fury. This was not happening, there was no way this was happening again. There's no way his insufferable idiot of a best friend, Jaebeom, would get himself shot like this. 

"Hyung?" Jackson calls out, unsure. "Are you there?"

"Is he okay?" Jinyoung rasps, trying to steady his breath. "What happened?"

"He's okay. Woojin said he should wake up either later today or tomorrow but....But it was at the apartment complex on the western fringe. The one that's been causing problems."

"What happened?" Jinyoung asks again, teeth grinding. 

"We...We aren't entirely sure hyung," Jackson admits. 

"You're not sure?!" Jinyoung repeats, fighting the shrillness in his voice. "What the fuck happened Jackson?"

"We're trying to figure out what he was doing there in the first place hyung," Jackson sighs. "We have two guys here who were there, but--"

"He went to the supermarket there this morning and lost his wallet," Jinyoung spats. "He ran into this kid and grabbed the wrong one, he was going to get it back. Didn't he tell you all this after I left?!"

"What? No, you know how Jaebum-hyung is he didn't-- Wait, so the wallet thing actually happened?!"

"Oh, my god," Jinyoung hisses. His best friend is literally nothing but a magnet for trouble. He'd felt bad about fucking with him about the whole thing but of course it'd be Jaebum to get shot while doing something so fucking simple.

"Hyung, the wallet thing is real?" Jackson asks again. 

"Yes, the fucking wallet thing is real Jackson! Why?"

"Because we have the guy and his friend who Jaebum was returning it to and..." Jackson pauses.

"And?"

"They both say they aren't involved, but..."

"Spit it out Jackson," Jinyoung growls.

"Hyung, the guy who had Jaebum's wallet used to be involved with Kim Taehyung."

Jinyoung blood doesn't run cold this time. It's coursing quicky now and it feels like he's on fire. He knew it. He fucking knew it! He knew things weren't lining up and now he's hundreds of miles away dealing with god knows what overseas and their leader has just been shot by one of the top agents of the biggest up and coming gangs in the area. This was just fucking perfect. 

"You better be joking Jackson," Jinyoung spats.

"I'm not hyung, I swear!" Jackson insists. "That wallet story sounded like a lousy cover and when we ran their names, the guy who had hyungs wallet-- Choi Youngae-- he used to go to school with and dated Kim Taehyung."

"Are you absolutely sure Jackson?"

"He contacted Choi Youngjae three months ago asking if he still lived in the area and to know if they could meet up. He never responded but--"

"You can't take any chances," Jinyoung finishes. "I know. What's going on right now?"

"We have Choi Youngjae and his friend, Kim Yugyeom-- we're not sure about how involved he is yet-- still here. We told Youngjae we're on to him though. We're giving them five minutes to sort themsleves out before we go back in. BamBam made it _very_ clear that he wants to shoot them so we kind of threatened them with that."

"You shouldn't have done that," Jinyoung glares, knowing Jackson will feel his stare even through the phone. "If this is really what we suspect, you shouldn't even given them a second to breathe. 

"I know but his friend sounded upset when we mentioned Kim Taehyung. It sounds like he didn't know about that so we're hoping he will pressure Choi Youngjae into confessing or explaining what's going on. Hyung, when will you be back?" 

"I'm not coming back Jackson," Jinyoung still scowls. "It was already strange when you and BamBam came back early contrary to Jeongyeon's intel. And now Jaebeom gets shot? No, something is happening and we can't leave until we figure it out." 

Jackson sighs but Jinyoung hears his voice harden. "I understand hyung."

"Good. Call me when you get a confession or when..."

"When Jaebum-hyung wakes up?" Jackson adds. "I will, I promise."

"Good...I trust you Jackson, so handle this."

"Does that mean--"

"Our leader has been shot. This isn't an accident, it's a sign and we need to find out what's coming. So handle it with any means necessary. _Quickly_."

"Yes, hyung."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you didn't figure it out Kendo is Woojin's code name and Defsoul (as we all hopefully know) is Jaebeom's :)


	8. Chapter 8

"Hyung, what the hell is going on?!" Is the first thing Yugyeom says when the door shuts. "Who is Kim Taehyung and why do they say you're lying?!"

"I don't know!" Youngjae whines, eyes glisten with tears. "I barely knew the guy Yugyeom, I swear! We took one class together and when he asked me out I said no because I knew he was leaving, that's it! I haven't seen him since then!"

"Then why do they think you're lying?" Yugyeoms voice quivers, his breath going uneven at the realization that something _bad_ is happening. "H-Hyung, they're going to...they're going to kill us. J-Just tell them what they want to hear!" 

"I don't know what they want to hear! I don't understand what's going on anymore than you do Yugyeom, but I didn't mean for any of this to happen! Their leader and I both just wanted our wallets back, that's it! I haven't so much as texted Kim Taehyung since the time I rejected him!" 

"Hyung, they're going to shoot us," Yugyeom whimpers. This was too much, this was just too much. He has absolutely no idea what's going on or what these guys are talking about, but one thing he's sure of is that they aren't getting out of here unless they cooperate with whatever the hell is happening. 

"I'm not lying though!" Youngjae sobs for the millionth time. "I don't understand why they're doing this, Mina said they would know we tried to help them!"

"Hyung, please just lie and say yes or something," Yugyeom pleads when he hears shuffling behind the door. "We don't have much time and there's no way they're letting us go anymore."

"But I don't know what they're talking about!" Youngjae insists pathetically.

Why him? Why him of all people? Why is this HIS life? First he has to move into that shitty, clearly dangerous neighborhood just to afford school, then his parents are starting to send less and less money, and now? Now he's going to die at the hands of fucking gangsters who believe him to be apart of god knows what. 

"Hyung, please," Yugyeom pleads one last time before the door bursts open again and the other two men take their seats across from them.

"So, are you ready to explain?" Jackson asks, leaning back in his chair, seemingly relaxed again. "And before you think about lying again, we know Kim Taehyung messaged you four months ago asking to meet, so don't even try it."

Youngjae starts to protest. He hasn't even SEEN Kim Taehyung in years, much less texted the guy! He stops himself though, taking a deep breath and sighing. 

"I haven't used Facebook in I don't know _how_ long. I don't even remember friending him, much less talking to him...You obviously hacked my account though, so why don't you use that to check the last time I logged in." 

Yugyeom bites his lip nervous when he sees Jacksons brows go up in almost disbelief. His hyung is pushing it, so he gives him the most pleading look he can (discreetly of course) and hopes he understands. The last thing they need is to infuriate these guys anymore than they already are. 

"I've already told you," Youngjae continues. "Kim Taehyung and I were just classmates and I'm sorry if you consider coffee dating but it wasn't. He asked me out at the end of the year, I said no because I knew he was moving and that's the last I've heard of him in years. The reason your leader was at my building is because we ran into each other at the supermarket and dropped our things. We grabbed the wrong wallet and he used the address on my license to find me. We were giving his back to him but th-this guy! This guy just came out of nowhere and shot at us and hit Jaebeom-ssi! Next thing we know w-we're calling someone named W-Woojin or Jackson...I'm guessing that's you." 

He gives a pointed look to Jackson, who seems impossibly relaxed for the amount of tension present in his jaw right now. Youngjae knows this isn't going well. 

"A-Anyway, we called you and that's what happened...! I'm sorry if you don't believe me but that's the truth. I-If....If you're goint to shoot anyone, let it be me. Yugyeom has nothing to do with this. He doesn't know Kim Taehyung and he wasn't even there when Jaebeom-ssi and I ran into each other, s-so please. Let him go."

"Hyung, no!" Yugyeom cries out pathetically, grabbing the others hand. "D-Don't, please."

"It's okay Gyeommie," Youngjae assures but he can hear the quaking of his own voice. 

"BamBam." Is all Jackson says.

"Yup," the other responds, whipping out a pistol and taking aim at Youngjae.

"N-No, please don't!" Yugyeom sobs, body moving on its own to shield his hyung. "He told you the truth!"

"No, he didn't. We gave your hyung every chance to give us Kim Taehyung, we even let you try to convince him but it seems he's loyal to a fault. It's fine but unfortunatley that means you'll be spending some more time with us Yugyeommie," Jackson smiles coldly.

"W-What?" Youngjae sputters. "I already told you, he has nothing to do with this! Just let him go!"

"I beg to differ. Not only is he associated with you, but he's a witness to our leaders shooting and now yours. Sorry kid, but we can't exactly just let you walk out, now can we?"

"I could shoot him too," BamBam suggests, brandishing another pistol to aim at Yugyeom. "I won't miss."

"I would hope not, you're less than three feet away," Jackson snorts like he isn't talking about literally killing two people in cold blood. "I'm feeling generous today, maybe because of the puppy you brought, so I'll give you one last chance. You have ten seconds to decide whether you want to live or die. Ten."

"Oh, my god please no!"

"Nine."

"I don't know what else you want me to say, just please let Yugyeom go!" Youngjae begs as he tries to shield Yugyeom this time.

"You know what we want," Jackson glares. "Eight."

"I don't, I really don't!"

"Seven~!"

"Can we just skip this?" BamBam groans. He is _beyond_ through with this.

"No, this is more fun," Jackson grins, watching the pair in front of them freak out. "Six."

"What about Mina?! She said she believed us!" Yugyeom screeches. _"Mina!"_

"Ugh, shut up." Jackson lips curls in distaste. She's not here and she's too nice anyway. It was just a tactic. Five. 

"Your leader!" Youngjae yells. "What about him?! Jaebeom-ssi knows what happened!"

If he can get that guy on their side, _somehow_ , maybe this will stop. Anything to stop this-- this insanity. 

BamBam, however scoffs and Jackson almost laughs. 

"You're lucky he hasn't woken from your little plan! He's be tearing you apart right now if he knew who you really are. You think we're bad? HA! You have no idea. Four!"

"I can't believe this, I can't believe this, I can't fucking believe this!" Yugyeom pants, eyes fluttering and hands wringing in his hair wildly.

This can't be happening. This really cannot be happening. Is this really the way his life is going to end, is this really what his life was made to be? He hasn't even met his celebrity crush yet! 

"Believe it kid. Three."

"Please," Youngjae implores, head almost banging against the table for mercy. "We don't have anything to do with this, we were--we were just fucking there!"

"If you say so," Jackson shrugs. He's not buying any of this over sentimental crap. "Two. Your time is almost up, any last words?"

Youngjae grabs his friends hand, gripping it tightly. This was all his fault, this was all his fucking fault. If only they didn't go grocery shopping, if only they'd hung out at Yugyeom's house, if only they'd never even left the house. 

"I'm sorry," he whispers and hugs the sniffling boy close. 

"It's okay hyung...It's okay," the other assures, hugging him back tightly but the crack in his voice says it all.

"Touching, but time is up~!" Jackson turns. "Bammie?"

"Finally!" He groans and puts away the other pistol. He'll only need one to finish this.

_Bang!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how mad would you all be if this is how the story ended haha


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cameo from my SVT bias, Minghao rip the only mullet ever

"Ow."

"Good morning hyung."

"It's still morning?"

"No, it's almost seven actually," Woojin observes. "Good evening, hyung."

Jaebum groans. Was he really out for most of the day?

"How are you feeling?" The boy asks, reading from that insufferable clipboard. Jaebeom's been read to from that thing more times than he can count.

"Everything fucking aches and I would strangle myself if my ribs weren't so fucked up," Jaebeom winces because apparently even breathing is too much.

"Not your ribs, just a muscle in your side actually," Woojin tells him. "You do remember what happened...right?"

"I'm in the infirmary and I can feel the stitches. Yes, I remember. Kind of hard to forget being shot."

"You weren't just shot hyung. The bullet was low-quality and it shattered almost immediately after leaving your body but it left a fragment inside. Jisung and I removed it before it could cause too much damage but as a semi-medical professional, I don't think you should leave this bed anytime soon."

"Yeah, whatever," Jaebeom waves him off but he knows it's true. There's no way he could leave even if he wanted to. He didn't even think he could sit up yet but he still had business. "Where's Jackson? What happened to the guy with my wallet?"

"O-Oh...You remember that too?"

"Yes," Jaebeom scowls at the other's tone. "That's why I was there. What's going on?"

Woojin sighs. Why did he insist on being such a good caretaker and staying with his patients? He should've just made Jisung sit with the man instead.

"Hyung, they think Choi Youngjae-- the one who had your wallet-- and his friend are the ones behind this. Mina interrogated them first and now BamBam and Jackson have been with them the last three hours because...."

"Because what?" Jaebum tries to growl, but he winces again when the air cuts into his lungs harshly. This wasn't making sense. There's no way those two guys of all people were behind this. They're just dumb civilians with their stupid chocolates and their stupid dog.

"If I tell you, please promise me you won't try to move hyung."

"No." Jaebeom glares. "Tell me. Now."

Woojin sighs because he knows that's as good as he'll get. "When we ran their names we found out that one of them-- Choi Youngjae-- used to date...he used to date Kim Taehyung." 

Woojin says something else about the guy but Jaebum doesn't catch it. Jaebeom's not an idiot but he chuckles to himself. He ignores the stining crawling down his side and bursts into a fit of unexpected giggling, coughing until it becomes full-blown laughter, his hoarse cries bouncing off the walls.

"H-Hyung, please stop you're hurting yourself."

"Ha! Haha, what me? Oh, I'm fine Woojin! What does your friend Seungmin say? Dandy? Yeah, I'm just dandy!" He assures, sitting up despite the searing pain of his whole body. He can't feel it though, not really. "You're taking me to the elevator though. Now."

Woojin resists the urge to sigh again. He does that a lot, sighing. He wonders if it's bad for his health and makes a note to research it later.

"Don't you want to at least change first?" He asks halfheartedly as he gestures to Jaebeom's rather frightening appearance.

The man is completely disheveled. His hair is matted and sticking out in odd places from when he was asleep. The bandages weren't visible but the the way Jaebeom limped and hugged his side was obvious. Thank god they'd at least changed his bloody, battered shirt for a semi-clean one.

"No. Elevator. Now."

"Let me get the crutches," Woojin surrenders, helping a groaning Jaebum onto his feet. "Can I call Jisung? I don't want to risk you falling hyung."

"No. We're going to surprise them. All of them," Jaebeom grins, his eyes flashing with that familiar hint of something wild and untameable. This wasn't going to end well.

They make their way to the elevator slowly, Woojin suggesting they just call Jackson instead of actually going up there but Jaebeom isn't having it. Normally, if he's shot, he can sort of see it coming because he knows. He knows they've pissed someone off, that someone wants to take them out or challenge them. They'd been around long enough though, that Jaebeom was almost certain no one would dare provoke him.

He was wrong and it pissed him off. This wasn't some wrong place, wrong time situation. This was a deliberate fucking attempt on his life, whoever it was bypassed everyoen to come directly for _him_ and they'd gotten close. Choi Youngjae had gotten close and now he and his friend were in for it.

"Hyung, pressing the button over and over doesn't make it go faster."

Jaebeom ignores him, slamming the elevator button until they reach the third floor. He hobbles out, cursing the fact that he even needed these crutches. It's embarassing to have Woojin ready to catch him every time he stumbles.

"Where are they?" He scowls.

"Down the hall. Jinyoung-hyung told them to _handle_ it."

"What? No!" Jaebum groans. 'Handle it' is Jinyoung for 'get rid of it or I'll get rid of you,' and everyone knows not to doubt him on that. "Dammit, we have to stop them!"

If Kim Taehyung and his people were really involved there was absolutely no way he would let Jackson have all the fun. Hell, no.

Woojin sighs again because this isn't going to be fun at all. For any of them. If Jaebeom's shooter really is involved with Kim Taehyung then that means trouble. Trouble they haven't had to deal with in a long time.

"Let's hope he hasn't 'handled' it too much or-- Wait, hyung please slow down!" He yells when Jaebum suddenly sprints forward on the crutches. 

Jaebum ignores him and the searing pain on his side again. Their third floor is an infamously unwelcome place, so he has a few ideas about what's happening on the other side of this room. That's why he practically throws himself at the door, bumping against it harshly as it swings back to violently smash against the wall.

_Bang!_

"Get the thing out of my face," he grins, panting. "Or did you forget who taught you to shoot?"

"H-Hyung!" BamBam immediately lowers his gun at the intruder and pulls him into a hug. "Oh, my god! Hyung, you're okay!"

"Of course I'm fine," Jaebum scoffs, but he's still gasping for air. "Jackson." He nods at the other.

Jackson smiles back. "Hyung." 

"You didn't have to come in hyung," BamBam says, detaching himself from the other. "We were handling it."

"Not without me you aren't." He turns to the other two people in the room. "Choi Youngjae."

"J-Jaebum-ssi....You're okay."

 

**

 

The first thing Jeongyeon does when they get to the restaurant is have the waiter take their stupid picture. She won't deny that they look good but as always, Sana is extravagant in her choices. 

Jinyoung is in a crisp navy blue suit, tailored to perfection and fitting his muscled figure in an undeniably good way. The color melds wonderfully with the emerald green dress that hugs Jeongyeon's subtle curves and even their accessories are lavish and matching. The glittering gold pin on Jinyoung's shoulder and equally golden purse over Jeongyeon's arm help them blend into the over-the-top establishment that they've booked for this meeting.

"Madame, would you like another glass?"

"Huh?" 

"No, we're fine. Another for our guests though."

"You're not trying to get me drunk, are you?" The man across from them chuckles as the waiter fills his glass and leaves. "You'll have to do better than thirty year old white wine, I'm more of a whiskey man."

"Not at all." Jinyoung smiles but Jeongyeon can see it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "May I ask however, why you've brought your son?"

The man chuckles again but Jeongyeon cuts him off, quick to avoid any offense.

They hadn't even been sitting more than five minutes but she had a sneaking suspicion this was close to falling apart already. If she hadn't felt it before when she called to set this all up, she definitely felt it now.

"This is his adoptive son and heir, Xu Minghao," she explains. "The director has raised and trained him for years now and he's set to inherit the company in a few years."

Jinyoung nods, taking in the young man in question. "I see." 

If he thought Sana's outfits were extravagant, Xu Minghao was downright _luxurious_. It was clear the man dressed to impress and intimidate. His simple black suit was impeccable, not a single bit of dust or wear to be found. Accented by equally pristine black dress shoes and single, golden Coco Chanel brooch that probably cost more than Jinyoungs outfit all together, Xu Minghao had an unforgettable aura to him.

What was really interesting though, was the eyes. Dark, keen eyes that gazed into Jinyoungs without fear, without apprehension. Ambitious. It reminded him a lot of a certain someone back home.

"I'm here to observe. For now," Minghao states, eyes still trained on Jinyoung. "I look forward to working with you in the future Park Jinyoung." He bows his head, smirking.

"Likewise," Jinyoung nods. Interesting. Very interesting.

"Enough about that," the man waves them off, taking a sip of wine and making a face. "I assume you invited us for a reason Jeongyeon?"

The girl nods. "Yes, we're here to assess and re-confirm the agreement you finalized three days ago with one of our agents, Jackson Wang."

"You've said it yourself, that agreement's been finalized dear." He takes another sip, coughing at the sour taste. "Ugh, this wine-- Is there something wrong with our deal?"

"Not at all. We're simply here as a follow-up," Jinyoung adds. 

"Follow-up? Strange, there's never been anyone to 'follow-up' before." The director gives them a coy smile.

"Well, we've been collaborating for almost a year, director. We want to ensure every deal between our two companies guarantees success for even longer," Jeongyeon explains. "It only took our agent three days to finalize this latest deal, so clearly things have been going well, no?"

The director smiles again, crookedly. "Yes...Yes, very well. That Wang Jiar fellow of yours is rather persuasive. Valuable too, is he not?"

Jinyoungs smile is blank. "Yes, he's one of our best. Very reliable."

Jeongyeon wills herself to copy Jinyoungs unbothered attitude but the tension behind their words practically bleeds into the air. She grips inside the purse on her lap tightly, carefully wrapping around her pistol. It's just like they thought. Something isn't right here.

"Yes, yes he is." He turns to his son. "Minghao. There isn't much left to discuss but give our friends here an update on this urgent matter. If you would excuse me, I need a moment." The man bows his head slightly, eyes flashing coyly before walking to the restroom.

"..."

"..."

"Well?" Jinyoung asks when Minghao says nothing. He's just sitting there, leaning back in his chair, smirking.

"How is Im Jaebeom, has he recovered yet?"

Jinyoung's blood runs cold for the second time that day but his face only betrays him in the form of another empty smile. There's no reason for this kid to be saying something like that about Jaebeom, not unles...

"What do you mean?" He asks, signaling Jeongyeon under the table to wait.

"There's no need to feign ignorance Jinyoung-ssi. I'm not like my 'father' with his empty promises and double entendres."

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, Xu Minghao."

The boy scowls now. "I said stop playing dumb. I know Im Jaebeom was shot not more than three hours ago. Who do you think ordered it?"

"You little..." Jeongyeon mutters, cursing. Normally, she's the most composed but this was the second time she'd been betrayed by a contact. Fool her once, shame on her. Fool her twice? Don't live to tell the tale.

"Hold on," Jinyoung reaches a hand over to still the girl. "Xu Minghao....You expect me to believe someone like you ordered a hit on Im Jaebeom?"

Minghao scoffs, clearly offended. "Someone like me?"

"You may be the heir apparent but it's clear the director doesn't view you as an equal. You have no power, not yet." Jinyoung pauses. ".It was him, the director....Why are you telling us this?'

"Because that so-called director is nothing but a fool past his prime," Minghao spats nastily. "He's gone and done something very stupid but I'll be damned if he drags everyone in MY company down just so he can re-live his supposed glory days."

"What did that insufferable idiot do?" Jeongyeon growls, fuming. She never liked that guy. "What the hell is going on Xu Minghao?"

Minghao gives them a smirk. "What's happening is you're being pushed out. You're being pushed out by the Clan."

Jinyoung curses now but Jeongyeon echoes his sentiment. He knew there was something off, knew it from the goddamn start. From the moment Jackson and BamBam walked in early he suspected it but nothing like this.

"What did they offer you?" Jeongyeon hisses. "What did they give you to turn on us?"

"They didn't give us shit," Minghao snaps. "But our absolute genius of a director is too much of an imbecile to realize it. In exchange for finishing that least deal quickly, they'd grant us full control over everything west of your territory as well as set up electronics dealings with us exclusively."

"We already deal with you exclusively! And the western territories? Our government has been trying to fix that area for years! There's nothing out there but broken down shops and old apartment....complexes....Jinyoung-ssi."

He swears again. "Yeah, I know." Out west is where Jaebeom was shot.

"I'm fully aware that the are is useless, believe me. Unlike me, the director doesn't do his fucking research and quite frankly, he's never liked any of you and had no problem betraying you. The plan was to have your agent return early, raise suspicion, lure some of you out, and attack Jaebeom. One of the Clan's people would take care of that."

"Kim Taehyung?"

"Yes, Kim Taehyung. He said he knew someone who lived in the area and was supposed to recruit the person."

Fuck. It was Choi Youngjae, it had to be. Either him or his friend.

"And then?" Jinyoung asks, glowering.

"They messed up and we had to pick up their slack," Minghao practically snorts. "The infamous Clan wasn't able to find Kim Taehyung's guy at all, they never made contact so we had to send in one of _our_ low-level hitters to do the job and he's not done."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your leader wasn't the only target. In fact, both of you are set to miraculously disappear here before you even make it to the airport."

"Why are you telling us all this?" Jeongyeon glares. "What do you want?"

"I want a deal," Minghao smirks. "My 'father' and his regime are long overdue. I have no problem working alongside you, I actually admire the way Jinyoung and Jaebeom-ssi seized control. I'm planning on taking a leaf out of your book and having my own little coup d'etat soon. Very soon."

"And what about the Clan? Assuming you don't fail, they aren't going to just take your leadership into stride after dealing with your idiot father," Jinyoung points out.

"Probably not, but I want an empire," Minghao declares. "Working with the Clan means you work under then, not with them. I know for a fact, however, that working with JYP Nation will be far more beneficial for my company. Any agreement between us will be unquestionably equal. And given your position, I'd say this is the best thing for you."

"Jinyoung..." Jeongyeon says, still glaring at the man across form them.

Minghao is right. They're behind already and if they're really dealing with the Clan of all people, they can't afford to turn down allies.

"Fine. Who are the other targets?"

"All of you. It was Im Jaebeom first, you two would vanish here, Wang Jiar in his home, the Thai one, and then anyone else with connections to you would be steadily picked off."

"Fucking hell," Jinyoung growls. "And you're absolutely sure Kim Taehyung never made contact with his source?" 

"No, I heard my father himself put out the order to one of his hitters. Now, I've been quite generous with you today Jinyoung-ssi, do we have a deal or not?" Minghao scowls.

"You have your deal Xu Minghao but--"

"But if you turn us like your fucking father, I won't hesitate to deal with you myself," Jeongyeon snarls, her normally soothing brown eyes searing.

Minghao nods, grinning. "Of course. I look forward to hearing from you both." He stands.

"Now if you'll excuse me I need to go pick up my 'father' off the bathroom floor. He's just been hit with a terrible bout of food poising." The boy frowns, exaggeratedly as he gives a pointed look to the directors glass before smirking and leaving. Looks like his takeover was happening a lot sooner than he'd let on. 

Good. The sooner the better for them.

"Jeongyeon."

"I know." Her phone is already in hand.

"Call Jackson. Right now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this longer than usual? I enjoyed writing this chapter and I don't know if I got carried away haha


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long one, yay~! A couple of things before we start though. 
> 
> First, stream Spring by Park Bom!! I've missed her so much I'm glad she could finally come back after everything she went through. She deserves the actual world and I'm so happy she is doing good on the music charts. Legends only!
> 
> Second, I know I'm late but can I just take a moment to talk about JUS2??? Because what the fuck their songs and concept and just everything are PERFECT. I love Yugyeom and Jaebeom so much and I'm so glad they got to do the music they love and promote it. My favorite song is Long Black because I'm in actual love with Yugyeoms crackhead ass and I love his music style.
> 
> Second, our Park Jinyoung is KILLING IT in his new drama! If y'all haven't heard of it, it's called He is Psychometric and it's a perfect crazy mix of comedy, tragedy, and mystery crime. Jinyoung is so good for this role and we get to see him acting all cute and sad, we love a talented man! Watch it and support [ here! ](https://www2.ondramanice.tv/drama/psychometric-fellow-detail)
> 
> Anyways, enough of me, on to the story~!

When Jaebeom bursts through the door crutches clacking, breathing heavily and scowling along with another young man behind him, Youngjae doesn't know whether to be relieved or even more concerned. He's glad the man didn't die (obviously), but these other two guys still think he had something to do with Jaebeom being shot in the first place and according to them, the leader is much, much worse.

"J-Jaebeom-ssi...You're okay."

"Sorry to disappoint," the other grins, teeth bared. "Your boyfriends not going to be very happy with you Choi Youngjae."

So he was under the same idea as Jackson and BamBam. Great. Youngjae sighs pathetically because he doesn't know what to do anymore. He's bared the truth over and over again and still hasn't gotten anywhere. He tries again though, one last time.

"He's not my boyfriend Jaebum-ssi....I don't know why any of you think Yugyeom or I had anything to do with this but we don't. I'm sorry you got hurt but this wasn't us. I've tried telling the truth already but if you want someone to blame, blame me. As Yugyeom's hyung, I'll take full responsibility for all of this, so please let him go and deal with me only."

"Hyung, please stop saying that!" Yugyeom cries beside him. This had gone too far, there was no way he could just let his hyung sacrifice himself like this for him.

Jaebeom ignores them both though, scoffing as he takes the gun from BamBam. "I have a better idea. How about I shoot you isntead, see how you like it?" He points the pistol at Youngjae, who struggles to hold back the panic rising in his throat and calm his shaking hands underneath the table.

He has to be strong. If not for himself, for Yugyeom.

Jaebeom senses this and grins, ruthless and he shifts to Yugyeom. "Or maybe we take out your friend here instead, have you watch him bleed to death before we put you out of your misery."

"N-No! Please." Youngjae moves to shield his maknae, voice breaking. "Please, don't."

"Hyung," Woojin urges behind them, clearly uncomfortable with how this is all folding out. He's not dumb enough to think things like this don't happen on a daily basis under their roof but to be seeing it and hearing it right in front of him....He understands the circumstances but this really feels like too much.

"Bambam, escort our Dr. Woojin out," Jackson says, glaring. 

"I'm in nursing," Woojin reminds them for the millionth time but allows himself to be dragged into the hallway with BamBam. He knows he's lucky that Jaebeom nor Jackson pounced on him for questioning them like that in front of their suspects.

"Our doctor has the heart of a healer but unfortunately for you, not all of us share in his sympathy," Jaebeom assures as he takes a seat across from them. "I do believe in one last chance for everyone though. Maybe its the pain, maybe it's even the medicine but--"

The obnoxious ring of Jacksons phone interrupts them and he apologizes, stepping back to answer the call. "What's wrong?" He hisses into the phone, looking sheepish.

Jaebeom glares at him. "As I was saying, you have one last chance to confess. _Right_ here, right _now_ , last shot at staying alive."

Youngjae, out of all the emotions he could feel right now, finds himself angry. This guy is an asshole. A scary, gun-wielding asshole but an asshole nonetheless. No matter their innocence or their answer, Youngjae and Yugyeom aren't going to escape and they know that and Jaebeom knows that. It's downright dispicable of him to act like they have a chance if they confess the way he wants them to. 

Youngjae is pissed and his face is surely betraying him right now because Jaebeom's glare is almost as strong as his is.

"Yugyeom," he turns to his friend and they exchange a knowing, silent look that instead of quelling the fire in Youngjae's eyes just makes it fiercer. 

Yugyeoms eyes are fluttering, the short breaths catching in his throat the only thing distracting Youngjae from the tears that he knows are about to fall. Fuck this. 

"Yugyeom," he says again, but softer as he touches the others knee gently. Yugyeom coughs, clearing his burning throat before nodding. 

"It's okay hyung." That's all Youngjae needs.

"Fuck you Im Jaebeom."

"...."

"...."

Youngjae smirks, beyond pleased with the way Jaebeom's chin juts out in anger. He should probably be more conscious of the way the others hand grips and tightens around his pistol but he isn't. Instead, he goes for it again. What do they have to lose?

"Fuck you and everyone that works for you. You're nothing but bullies and killers, it seems. The only one that I feel bad for is Mina. She seems like she's actually a good person. The rest of you though? Fuck you. Especially you, Im Jaebeom. Acting like if we tell you what you want to hear you'll let us go when we both know that was never the plan."

Yugyeom gulps next to his hyung but he actually lets out a sigh of relief. There's nothing left for him to do. He can't do anything but at least they got to let it all out on this guy. Any chance of survival they thought they had died the moment they were assumed to be guilty anyways. It's a bitter, horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that he knows won't subside anytime soon but there's nothing he can do about that now.

It's over.

"You're loyal to a fault, aren't you?" Jaebeom all but snarls out, his grin a vicious sight. He stands, struggling a bit with one crutch but his aim is on Yugyeom is steady. "Let's see how you feel after-"

"Hyung!" Jackson interrupts again, surging forward before he does something he won't be able to fix. "It's Jinyoung."

"He can wait, I'm busy," the other growls, determined to end this all now.

This had gone on long enough, for real this time. Youngjae wasn't just going to sit here and disrespect him, feigning power. He has no fucking authority right now and Jaebeom is about to remind him of that by hitting him where it hurts. He's been in this world long enough to know that everyone has something you can exploit. You can try to isolate yourself from the things that matter but at the end of the day, no one is invincible. And Youngjae's weakness is right next to him, struggling not to burst into tears, ready to be reaped by Jaebeom's hand.

"But-"

"I said _wait_." If Jackson interrupts him one more time.

"Hyung," Jackson urges against his better judgement. "He says he needs you _right now_."

"Don't you fucking move," he seethes at Youngjae before snatching the phone from Jackson and walking out, cursing before he slams the door, leaving Youngjae and Yugyeom confused and even more on edge.

 

**

 

"You better have a good fucking reason for interrupting me Park Jinyoung or I swear on YOUR life when you get back I'll--!"

Woojin and BamBam can't help but jump when the leader stomps (limps) out suddenly, screaming into the phone.

"What's going on?" BamBam asks, watching as their leader practically shrieks into the phone.

"I don't know," Jackson scowls. "Jinyoung called all of a sudden and said we needed to stop and that he needed to talk to Jaebeom-hyung."

Something was off. Jinyoung had said _handle_ it, a guarantee that they had free reign to do what they needed to do. He'd never stopped them before, so what was wrong now?

"It must be important if hyung said to wait," Woojin points out, secretly relieved that it hadn't gone as far as he'd feared. Their leader did not share in that sentiment.

"What the hell do you mean?!" The man yells into the phone. "How do you know that?"

Jinyoung says something the rest of them don't catch, but from the look on Jaebeom's face they know it isn't good. Their leaders ever-present scowl disappears, his face and voice going hard. His next words send a chill throughout the room.

"If he's lying, everyone in that company will pay. If he screws us over, he can forget about dealing with you or Jeongyeon. He'll be answering to me _personally_."

Jinyoung says something else, no doubt assuring the other of whatever it is they're discussing and it isn't until Jaebeom promises that they won't move forward does he finally hang up. A brief moment of silence passes between them though, everyone wary of the leader.

"What's going on hyung?" Jackson finally says. "Where is Jinyoung?"

"It's not them." Is all the other says, spatting it out like he's pissed he didn't get to exact his revenge today.

BamBam scoffs. "What? What do you mean it's not them?! There's no way that guy is telling the truth, he's involved with Kim Taehyung hyung. How can--?"

"I SAID IT'S NOT THEM!" Jaebeom yells, everyone jumping slightly. "Do I need to repeat myself?" He growls.

"N-No, I'm sorry hyung I just--"

"That's why Jinyoung wanted us to stop." Jackson gives the leader a look, still confused. "Choi Youngjae having an affiliation with Kim Taehyung isn't a coincidence though...Is it? Hyung, tell us what's going on."

Jaebeom glares at the them (even Woojin who's been quiet) but he knows there's no reason to be mad at them or to hide this. These are his people and they haven't done anything wrong. They have a right to know when they're about to be screwed.

"You're right. It's not a coincidence but those two aren't involved. They just have really shitty luck. Tch." He makes a face at the thought of those two in particular. "Choi Youngjae isn't an enemy and neither is his friend, but Kim Taehyung and his people are. Jackson and BamBam, you two came back unexpectedly early, right?"

The two of them nod, brows furrowed.

"You were being set up to die. All of us are. Me, you two, Jinyoung and Jeongyeon, and all of our people."

He pauses, giving them a moment to understand the depth of the situation.

"We're being pushed out by the Clan."

 

**

 

The Bangtan Clan.

A formidable, rising force situated at least four hours away from JYP Nation but Jinyoung would have to be an idiot not to have heard of them. Their inner circle is small, made up of seven people, only two of which have been publicly seen.

Kim Seokjin is impossible to miss. The son of a high profile CEO with hands in high places, he's a likely successor to his fathers slightly crooked fortune. No one understands his involvement with the Clan but they don'd dare to question it.

Kim Taehyung is also impossible to miss, albeit in a more obnoxious way. If Xu Minghao is impeccable in the way he presents and expresses himself, Kim Taehyung is outrageous. The man can go from gaudy adornments and jewels and elaborate patterns to showy, ornate outfits that cost more than they're worth. Pretentious, is the only way Jinyoung sees him.

He's never dealt with the guy one-on-one but he's heard enough to know what he (and by extension his group) is like to steer clear. That might seem cowardly but a true strategist knows how to pick his battles and Jinyoung knows no one would actually dare call him a coward. Not aloud anyways.

"We should leave soon. Minghao said we were set to 'disappear' tomorrow afternoon and we've done all we can here....Jinyoung-ssi?"

"Huh?" He snaps out of his thoughts to Jeongyeon giving him a scowl. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"We should leave," she repeats. "I've checked in with everyone we know and they've been warned or put on alert, there's nothing more we can do here except wait for Xu Minghao to finish that moron off."

Jinyoung can't help the smirk tugging on his lips. "You're still upset about that, aren't you?"

"Yes," Jeongyeon says shortly, returning to the chaos she'd created on the bed.

In their age of technology, one would think records and intelligence would be easier to manage on a computer but Jeongyeon is a traditionalist and a paranoid. Computers are portable, sure, and they're protected with fancy codes and whatnot but their enemies know how to bypass that just as well as they do. That's why no one would ever expect her to have actual, hand-written files for each of her contacts, past, current, and dead.

"I know you don't trust using a computer but Mark-hyung and Changbin are good. They'd never let your records get hacked."

"I trust them but there's always someone better." They've had this conversation before but Jeongyeon won't change. Her files have been scanned and uploaded into multiple flash-drives (always have a backup for your backup) hidden in various places around the world, but she still prefers being surrounded by notes and papers with minimal technological interference. "My way is safer."

"But messier," Jinyoung points out, reminded of the fact that he's been sequestered to the small coffee table to avoid her setup (even though it's his room). It was late, almost midnight and they hadn't even changed yet. They'd gotten back to the hotel a while ago but Jeongyeon had immediatley went to work, converting the bed into her workspace.

"I still don't understand how you know which phone is for who," Jinyoung says, pointing to the array of cellphones she has laid out too. 

She doesn't trust computers for storage but Jeongyeon has at least six different burner phones. One is her personal cell, another for JYP business only, and the rest are assigned to different regions for her sources to contact her.

"I distinguish them by ringtones," she admits, picking one of the burners up. "Jeongin changed my personal one to the Baby Shark song, Sana chose a train sound for the JYP phone, and this one is--"

_Crash!_

Jinyoung springs up at the sudden noise blaring from her phone, cursing when his knee hits the table.

"Cymbals...." The girl finishes, looking grim. Cymbals meant the call was from here in China, specifically from Minghao but she'd barely set up their confidential line not more than two hours ago before he'd left with his father.

"Who is it?" Jinyoung groans, nursing his growing bruise, but she ignores him.

"Hello?" She answers.

"Jeongyeon-ssi? Where are you?"

"In our hotel..." she frowns. "Why?"

"You need to leave. Now."

"What, why--? You said we had until tomorrow at noon."

"Things have changed, you two need to be on the next plane out of here!" Minghao urges and now Jeongyeon knows something is wrong. Again.

"What's going on?" Jinyoung asks, injury forgotten when he notes the change in tone of Jeongyeons voice.

"Minghao. What. Is. Wrong?"

Minghao sighs on the other line, cursing. "It--It's my fault, okay! The director is alive but in critical condition, he thinks you two poisoned him. He's ordered you be taken out immediately. As we speak, there are hitmen heading to your hotel and their orders are to kill you and make it look like a domestic dispute. You two need to get out of there!"

Jeongyeon is silent, cursing to herself as she signals Jinyoung to pack everything up. 'They're coming,' she mouths and that's all he needs to start gathering his things.

"Jeongyeon-ssi? Are you there?"

"Oh, I'm here Xu Minghao. I am right here."

"Okay...?" Minghao is confused. He'd just informed them that they were literally going to be assassinated but he couldn't detect even a hint of panic in the girls voice. "You need to get out," he repeats. "The directors hitmen are notorious for striking quickly, they won't hesitate to--"

"Oh, don't worry about us Xu Minghao. You should be more concerned about how we are going to deal with _you._ "

"M-Me?" The boy scoffs. "What do you mean, me? I'm the one warning you, I'm keeping up my end of the deal!"

"You seem to forget that YOU are the cause of this situation in the first place. It's because of your incompetency and impatience that Jinyoung-ssi and I will have to cut our trip short." Jeongyeon's voice is chiding, like she's scolding an ignorant child. 

"Your stupidity is to blame, although I suppose I should be grateful you didn't pick up your fathers greed as well. But make no mistake, Xu Minghao; This isn't you keeping up your end of our deal, you aren't helping us with anything we wouldn't be able to deal with in the first place. This is you, making a grave mistake that _we_ will have to pay for but it's okay, we'll fix it. I look forward to having you in my debt. Good night, Minghao." She hangs up, relishing in the way the young man stutters and protests, his curses cutting off as she tosses her phone down to gather her own things. 

"He messed up, didn't he?" Jinyoung glares.

Jeongyeon nods as she gathers her files quickly. "Yeah, but I'll deal with him later. Right now we need to leave. Is there any way Sana can get us out of here tonight?"

"She'll have to. We can leave the luggage, just grab the files and the---"

There's a knock and Jinyoung reaches for his pistol immediately and aims at the door. 

"Room Service!" An unusually gruff voice calls out and they exchange a look. Neither of them ordered anything.

Jinyoung motions for her to check and Jeongyeon tip-toes across the room, squinting through the doors peep-hole. She curses lowly when she looks out because they're fucked.

There are two men standing out their door, very much not room-service if their weapons are anything to go by. They're huge too, big hulking and muscled guys, _very much_ hitmen worthy. She retreats as quietly as she can, grabbing her own weapon before throwing their essentials into a backpack.

"They're here," she whispers.

"How many?" Jinyoung slips his shoes on. He probably looks silly, dressed in Nikes and full suit but they needed to be ready to run. "Jeongyeon, how many are there?"

"I counted two. One for each of us." She exhales, grabbing her shoes and looking just as weird as Jinyoung with her green dress and tennis shoes. She waves at him to move further from the door and takes aim next to him. "They're big though. They must have heard about your history."

Jinyoung scoffs. As if right now is the time to be reliving his hoodlum, glory days. "We should run then, we can't risk--"

"ROOM SERVICE!" The voice calls again, louder and banging on the door.

Jinyoung curses. They needed to be out of here and on a plane in the next five seconds if they wanted to avoid a full-on brawl. He and Jeongyeon were good but not against professional hitmen.

"Call Sana and tell her to get us booked right now, I don't care who she has to pay or what she has to do!" Jinyoung hisses and Jeongyeon nods, frantic. He takes out his own phone, dialing another number. He'd better be up, he has to be. The time difference isn't that big.

"I'm in the middle of a game so this better be good." Is how the other answers him, clearly preoccupied if the laser and shooting noises in the background are anything to go by.

"There are hitmen outside our door, we need a flight out of Hong Kong in the next five minutes, and we need a distraction to actually get out of this hotel."

"Aw, shit--! Fine, I lost anyway."

Jinyoung sighs in relief, but the urgency in his voice remains. "Coordinate with Sana. Quickly, Mark-hyung. Please."

"Yeah, yeah it's fine. She's already here anyways, she was watching me play. One of you hang up, there's no reason for both of you to be on the phone with us." 

Jinyoung hangs up and Jeongyeon puts the duo in question on speaker phone.

"Hi~!" Sana greets them.

"PARK JINYOUNG! YOO JEONGYEON!" Is all the voice at their door says (belts) this time and it is very clearly, not room service. "YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO OPEN THIS DOOR-- FIVE!"

"Jeongyeon what's going on, are they almost done?!" Jinyoung hisses, grip on his gun tightening. If they have to fight...

"Nothing is happening!" Jeongyeon practically yells into the phone. There was no need to be quiet anymore.

"FOUR!" The voice booms, pounding on the door so violently that Jinyoung swears he can hear the wood splinter.

"It's going, just hold on," Mark assures them, but even over the phone he can hear the cracking of the door. He should probably be a little bit more concerned but adrenaline junkies don't faze easily.

"Okay, there's a flight leaving for you guys in ten minutes!" Sana says. "We traded this couple some fake rubies for their tickets so you'd better hurry before they figure it out!"

"What?! How did you--?"

"THREE!" The voice yells again, cutting off Jeongyeon with a particularly powerful slam at the door.

"How big are these guys Jeongyeon?! And Mark-hyung, nothing is happening!"

"TWO!!"

"Xu Minghao is going to pay for this," Jeongyeon growls. This was all his fault, all his fucking fault for being too impatient.

"Xu Minghao?" Sana asks. "Who is--"

"Distraction is done!" Mark cuts her off and Jinyoung wants to yell at him because this is one hell of a fucking distraction.

"ONE-- WHAT THE HELL?!" The voice curses and Jeongyeon echoes him because suddenly, it's raining indoors.

"You're welcome," Mark says, smug. He's their best hacker and IT expert by far but his tactics and ideas are always a bit...out there. Like setting off the fire alarms and sprinklers in the _entire_ hotel. 

"Mark-hyung, this isn't what I had in mind!" Jinyoung yells but he grabs Jeongyeons hand and they run into the adjoining room just in time to avoid the door being smashed in.

"Don't worry, we also called in a bomb threat!" Sana adds, like that makes this any better. "The police will be looking for two large men in navy blue suits and they should be careful because they might be armed, aah~!"

"I'm in a navy blue suit and armed!" Jinyoung screeches.

"Oh....You're not big though?" Sana says, sheepish as Mark cackles in the background.

Jinyoung wants to scream again but the hitmen are right behind them in the other room, he and Jeongyeon are soaking wet, and when they open the other door they're met with a barrage of guests running through the hallway.

"Fuck it!" Jeongyeon yells, hooking arms with Jinyoung and grasping the phone tightly. "We have to go through! Don't let you and you two don't hang up!"

They plunge into the crowd and are swept away immediately. Everyone and everything is soaking wet and in a panic. The alarms are shrieking, ringing in the jam-packed hallways as people struggle and push to run down the emergency exit at the end of the hall. It doesn't take long for them to be pushed forward and down the staircase at this rate, the movement of the crowd doing the work for them.

Jinyoung thinks they just might make it out when he looks over his shoulder to see that the hitmen have not been deterred from their mission. They're the cause of all the pushing and are heading towards them with a vengenace, so he and Jeongyeon barrel down the stairs as quickly as possible. He's glad they were only on the fourth floor out of the twenty in the place but when they finally make it out to the front of the building, they're being ushered in the direction opposite of where they need to be.

"This way, this way over here!" The police and volunteers call out, making sure everyone files into the makeshift camp set up at the end of the street.

"Sana, where is the car?!" Jeongyeon cries into the phone, fighting to stick to Jinyoungs side among the throng of people.

"She's almost there, she stopped to get your clothes!" Sana almost always prepares a chauffeur when they go overseas and it's nice but this time driving on their own might've been better. Jinyoung doesn't have too much time to think on it though because they need to find a fucking way out of the police enclosure.

"Tell her to meet us a little further at the end of this street," he instructs Sana. "We're stuck behind the police line right now."

"Okay, she's almost there~!"

"Leave it to the police to want to do their job for once," Jeongyeon grumbles as they file into a medical tent. "Will this take long?" She asks one of the nurses that walks past.

"Not at all ma'am," the woman responds. "We've just been instructed to give you all a once-over before getting your contact info and letting you go."

Jeongyeon and Jinyoung share an irritated look. They didn't have time to be waiting, not with the line of people in front of them. The sprinklers just went off, nothing happened!

"Are you in a rush or something? God." The person behind them scoffs, eyes rolling. "People could be hurt."

Jeongyeon bristles, turning around to glare at them when her eyes go wide. Fuck.

"Jinyoung!" 

"Shit!" He grabs her hand again and they dash forward just in time to avoid the two dark blue suits coming after them. How did they get so close so quickly?!

"Stop those two!" One of the guys calls out, pointing. "They're wanted by police!"

A fucking lie is what that is but it does the trick. Immediately, people protest and jump in their way to stop them from cutting in line or running away, Jinyoung doesn't know. It's pissing him off though and he doesn't even stop to proclaim his innocence, he and Jeongyeon pushing through everyone without mercy.

"Get out the fucking way!" She screams. "Sana, we're heading toward the car now! It needs to be ready to leave!"

"Okay, no problem~!" Sana sounds a bit distressed now but there's nothing she can do.

They're pushing and pushing against the now frantic crowd, ignoring everyone that curses and calls out out to them. "Stop!" "Hey!" "No!" "Move!" They all say but she and Jinyoung surge forward and they finally catch a glimpse of that dreaded police tape separating them from the rest of the street when Jinyoung chokes.

"Get back here!" A voice snarls, catching Jinyoung by his stupid tie of all things and pulling ferociously.

"J-Je! S-Stop!" Jinyoung coughs and stutters, gripping at his neck desperately but it's no use. The hitman has him by the neck, dragging him back desperately to finish him off with his friend.

"Let go of him!" Jeongyeon snarls back and before she or anyone else can even think, she smashes the palm of her hand against the guys face with a loud, painful _crack!_

The man curses, yelling and wailing as the blood spurts from his nose or his mouth, Jeongyeon can't tell. His partner isn't far behind though, so she doesn't even give Jinyoung time to breathe before grabbing him and running through the police tape without looking back.

"Sana, where is she?!"

"I told her to head your way, she's almost there!" Sana promises, her usually upbeat voice trembling slightly.

"Are you okay?!" Jeongyeon asks when Jinyoung slows next to her. They can't afford to slow down, they're barely a few feet away from the police tape! She can still see the faint outline of those two guys!

"I-I'm fine," he coughs, face still tinged blue. "Th-Thank you. I j-just need--"

"We need to move," Is all she says and before she can push Jinyoung forward, they finally have their saving grace of the night.

The inconspicuous black SUV would be just that if it wasn't flying down the street at a clearly illegal speed but Jeongyeon is grateful when it screeches to a halt in front of them and a young girl rolls down the passenger window.

"Yoo Jeongyeon?!"

"Yes?" 

_"Get in!"_

The girl unlocks the backseat for them, giving them just seconds to get in before ramming the accelerator and almost crashing into the police enclosure they're supposed to be avoiding. She turns sharply though, zooming down the street as she calls out, "Next stop, Hong Kong International Airport!"

"We're in the car now," Jeongyeon lets Sana know. "Thank you for the clothes and the towels."

"No problem~!"

"Are we still good to go at the airport?" Jinyoung finally speaks up, pulling his tie off with a groan.

"You're good to go," Sana assures. "First class, direct three hour flight to Bangkok and your new luggage will be waiting for you at the hotel."

"Good, thank you." Sana assures him its not problem again and promises to brief Jaebeom and Jackson with Mark. She hangs up, Mark wishing them luck but groaning at the prospect of having to leave his room.

"Towels and clothes are in the bag down there," the driver tells them. "There's also a backpack in case you need to switch out." 

They nod, thanking her before turning away from each other to change. It's a bit uncomfortable but it's better than staying in sopping wet, cold clothes. They dress quickly, grateful for the comfort of sweats (they make no comment about Sana's overspending tendencies again or how they're wearing matching black Adidas tracksuits) and Jeongyeon sighs in relief again when she checks her files.

"They're alive," she breathes, transferring everything to the new one. Her files, their passports, a laptop, and even the credit cards are all okay. It's a miracle, really.

"Hand me your gun," Jinyoung says when they reach the highway above the river. He rolls down the window and to Jeongyeon's surprise, throws their pistols as far as he can and into the water. "We don't have time to deal with the gun regulations at the airport, it's better to just get rid of them," he explains.

She nods, letting out a real sigh of relief for the first time that night. She slumps down in her seat dramatically, making a note to buy something for Mark and Sana in Thailand to thank them.

There's a beat of calm, recovering silence before Jinyoung speaks.

"Thank you again," he sighs. "For what you did back there."

"No problem. I wouldn't want you dying on me Jinyoung-ssi." She jokes but they both know she means it.

After almost six years of dealing with mobsters, killers, and egomaniacs, Jinyoung doesn't scare easy but even he knows this was a _very_ close call. He can't even remember the last time something this crazy had happened. The Clan wasn't playing around and they had no problem showing it. That means they can't afford to either.

This wasn't some small, simple dispute like he'd first thought. Everything he feared was coming true but he wasn't going to sit back and let this ruin them. This wasn't just one fight.

This was going to be an all out turf-war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably one of my favorite chapters I've written, not gonna lie. I hope you guys enjoyed this and leave me plenty of comments and kudos and share the story because I honestly live for that haha <3
> 
> Also, feel free to follow me on my socials~!
> 
> snapchat: loonyluna1214  
> twitter: sansonaxy
> 
> See you all next time~


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm up late editing and posting this instead of studying for a test I might fail but I mean this is more fun and I think I'll pass so....
> 
> Stay in school but like do what makes you happy

The moment their captors leave, Yugyeom bursts into tears, unable to hold back.

"Hyung, what's going on?!" He sobs, exhausted.

"I-I don't know." Youngjae is just as shocked as he is.

They'd been interrogated and threatened for almost four or five hours, he'd mouthed off to Im Jaebeom, who he was sure would kill them but....Something major must be happening for the leader himself to have paused. Youngjae has a bad feeling.

"Hyung, what are you doing?" Yugyeom sniffles when the other shoots out of his chair and runs to the window behind them.

"I'm trying to see if we can jump out."

It's the only other exit in the room and judging by the Jaebeom's screams outside on the other side of the door, could be the only option they have left. Just because Youngjae had mouthed off, pretty much ready to literally die, doesn't mean he can just surrender if given another chance. Fuck that. He knew the bad feeling he'd gotten at the store wasn't for nothing and now that he was up-close and personal with Jaebeom and his people, he would gladly take another chance at survival. If not for himself, for Yugyeom at least.

Their too high up though and the window is old, almost completely painted shut. There had to be at least three stories between them and the ground, there was no way they'd survive a fall like that. Youngjae curses, wracking his brain for any other alternative, but their captors returns quickly, looking even more irritated than before.

"I wouldn't try that," Jackson glowers. "The last guy did broke his spine and we still killed him."

Youngjae glares at him but returns to his spot next to a still sniffling Yugyeom.

"Stop fucking crying," Jaebeom spats with distaste.

"Leave him alone," Youngjae says lowly, glare intensifying. Jaebeom could say whatever the fuck he wanted about him, but he wasn't going to let him come after Yugyeom. 

"Hyung," Jackson warns before the leader loses his mind. "Tell them the good news." 

"G-Good news?" Yugyeom sniffles, confused.

Jaebeom says nothing, chin still jutting out in rage, looking away from them to stop himself from doing something he knows Jinyoung will yell at him for. He'd agreed to press pause for the other, promising not to do _anything_ until Jinyoung contacted them again with more information but Choi Youngjae was fucking testing him.

"We believe you," Jackson continues. "We know you weren't involved in anything that happened."

Their first instinct should probably to cheer, cry in relief, something along those lines, but they've had a pretty fucked up day and this feels a little too good to be true. Yugyeom gives his hyung a hesitant, disbelieving look and Youngjae mirrors it, the both of them frowning.

"Is...Is this a trick?" Yugyeom couldn't rule out something so cruel with these guys. Not after everything they'd just experienced. 

"No. We believe you and we're letting you go."

"The fuck we are," Jaebeom finally interjects and Youngjae scoffs. He knew it was too good to be true. "You may not be involved but we aren't letting you go."

"B-But you said you believe us," Yugyeom's voice quakes, the small bit of hope he had already diminishing.

"Tch. You think just because we believe you, we trust you? Your hyung here is lucky he didn't get his fucking brains blown out the minute he started talking. Have your phones and your stupid dog back but we're watching you so please, try something and make my day." Jaebeom growls, giving Youngjae a pointed like he's the source of all his problems.

Youngjae resists the urge to stick his tongue at the other or ask him what the fuck he's looking at...Im Jaebeom clearly brings out his pettier side.

"Cry all you want," Jaebeom continues at Yugyeoms pouting face. "You two aren't leaving my fucking sight. And don't even think about--"

"It's dark outside," Youngjae cuts the leader off, much to his and everyone else's surprise. Again.

Jackson stiffens, eyes immediately darting to the leader but Jaebeom, surprisingly, laughs. There's nothing funny about it though. 

"And?" He says in obvious disbelief that Youngjae would dare interrupt him again.

The other doesn't relent though, demanding. "Meaning it's late. If you're not going to let us leave, then where are we going to sleep? If we're stuck here in this shitty place, we deserve some basic commodities." 

Jaebeom gives him another seething look, eyes narrowed dangerously. This guy was either really brave or really fucking stupid, judging by the way he wasn't backing down, even right now. He's scowling right back at Jaebeom, unwavering, the air between them palpable with a strange mix of something that feels like a little bit more than just hatred...

Jackson watches the silent exchange between the two, confused and nervous at the strange feeling in the air....He wonders if he should step in before Jaebeom does something regrettable though. This Youngjae guy was really going to be a handful. 

To his surprise though, Jaebeom doesn't snap at the guy. He just smirks and even chuckles a little to himself.

"Fuck if I know." The leader stands, turning to Jackson. "Have Mina and Woojin take care of it."

Jackson nods.

"Don't get too comfortable though Choi Youngjae," Jaebeom says, still smirking. "This isn't over."

Youngjae just huffs, ignoring the way his skin crawls underneath the others eye in a way he can't explain...The room suddenly feels too hot but he doesn't lower his gaze. He doesn't let Jaebeom win their silent staring contest, not like he did at the store. Not when Jaebeom and Jackson leave, not when Woojin guides them to a fourth floor, and not when he's finally reunited with Coco and a guilty Mina. 

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea they were going that far--I-I really didn't--" Mina stutters over and over, genuinely upset. "Let me know if you need anything at all, please. I'm so sorry, I promise I'll help--"

"Mina," Youngjae says, smiling softly at the girl. "It's okay."

"N-No, it's not Youngjae-ssi," she whimpers. "I-I should've told them to wait, to stop, or tried to convince them but our leader h-he was shot and you have to understand we all care about each other a lot-- I know it looks strange to those outside of it-- but I still should've helped, I'm so sorry---"

She's right. She should've tried to stop them, protested, questioned like Woojin did but she didn't. Youngjae doesn't find himself blaming her though. He can't. She just doesn't seem like that type of person to him.

"Mina-ssi, it's okay, really," Yugyeom assures but he's still shaken up. His life was played with all day, there's no other way for him to feel.

Falling asleep tonight would be a miracle.

 

**

 

Jaebeom is grateful for the couches in his office. Jinyoung had them imported from some fancy department store in the United States for them both. Jaebeom thought they were over-rated for a couple of plain grey couches but after thousands of late nights, stupid meetings, and briefings they'd definitely grown on him. 

The couches were more worn than his actual bed, his room was just for decoration at this point. He'd fallen asleep in his office more times than he could count, every couch perfectly accommodating for his occasionally messed up back. He couldn't find it in himself to sleep, though. He was too focused on a certain hard-headed, admittedly handsome brunette...

Choi Youngjae. 

The guy makes absolutely no sense.

At the grocery store, he seemed like a push-over. When Jaebeom was at his place, he was an awkward and nervous wreck ("How's the mafia?" Seriously?). When he got shot however, Youngjae was suddenly there, springing into action and ready to help. Then, he does another fucking flip, acting all brave and noble to sacrifice himself for the Yugyeom kid like he has no fear.

It's annoying as fuck but irresistibly...interesting.

Jaebeom doesn't interact with every single person in his organization, he just isn't like that. He does, however, know the people he needs to know and knows them _well_. Even the literal kids like Chaeyoung and Seungmin who he doesn't talk to every day, he knows them well enough to be able to trust them. They're consistent, they're predictable enough for Jaebeom to know they won't be a problem.

Choi Youngjae is nothing like that and Jaebeom would be lying if he said it wasn't driving him a bit crazy. The guy can't stick to a fucking script, has too many hidden sides to him. Yugyeom is supposed to be his best friend but even he didn't know about Kim Taehyung.

Youngjae is a fucking enigma and Jaebeom can't stand that he hasn't figured him out yet. Distrust and uncertainty isn't something he can fucking afford to deal with right now. 

He hasn't talked things all the way through with Jinyoung, but Jaebeom has plans. The moment he woke up, the moment he realized who was involved, he started planning. This incident wasn’t just any incident. This was a calculated, deliberate accident that would cost him greatly if he didn’t get it under control right now.

The Clan was nothing to mess around with but neither is JYP Nation and he planned on demonstrating that in whatever way necessary. 

"Hello~? Jaebeommie oppa~? You awake~?"

Ugh.

"Jaebeommie oppa~?" The voice calls out again, obnoxiously high.

"What? What is it hyung?" Jaebum groans, not even bothering to get up from where he's laying.

"Aww, how'd you know it was me?" Mark enters, grinning, his canines flashing.

"It's because no one says Jaebeommie oppa but you oppa~!" Sana chirps, bounding in behind Mark to take a seat across from Jaebeom.

Jaebeom is way too fucking tired to deal with these two right now.

"How's the bullet hole?" Mark smirks, taking a seat next to Sana. "What is that like number five?"

"Wow, you've been shot at five times?"

"Six times if you count when BamBam accidentally let his gun go off," Mark cackles, recalling that little training 'incident'. BamBam was such a cute, dumb kid. 

Jaebeom just sighs, resisting the urge to kick them out because he knows it'll just backfire on him later. Mark is his hyung and Sana might 'accidentally' set off fireworks indoors again. 

"Is there something you guys need?" He says instead, still not getting up.

"Oh, yes actually! We're here to brief you about Jinyoung oppa and Jeongyeon~!" 

"Jinyoung? When did you two talk to Jinyoung?" Jaebeom frowns, sitting up now. 

"They ran into some trouble after their meeting with that Xu Minghao guy and we had to help them out."

"Trouble? What happened?"

"Assassination," Sana says solemnly, a rare tone from the girl who can ignite happiness in even the dreariest of things. Literally sometimes. "We didn't get all the details but something happened with Xu Minghao and his people, so we had an emergency escape. They tried to come after them and it was a close call, but we took care of it. As we speak, Jinyoung-oppa and Jeongyeon are safe and on a plane to Bangkok."

"Do I even want to know exactly how you two 'took care of it'?" These two are infamous for their 'creative' ideas.

"Mark oppa set off the fire alarms and sprinklers in the whole building!" Sana exclaims, smiling now. "It worked like a charm!"

"And Sana called in a bomb threat," Mark adds, grinning while Sana beams, proud of herself. "It actually worked pretty well, I was surprised they managed to get out so quickly."

Jaebeom just exhales heavily and rubs at his face with tired hands. He needs a fucking vacation or even just some sleep. Not fake bomb threats, assassination attempts, and brash prisoners. This was fucking ridiculous.

"I'm assuming Jinyoung told you to brief me and that he'll contact us again when they land?"

Sana nods. "Yup~!"

"Good." Jaebeom scowls. "Tell Nayeon to lock everything down for the night. No one is going anywhere, I don't need anyone else getting shot."

"Aww, Jaebeommie cares," Mark teases, relishing in his power as the older that lets him mess with the leader.

Jaebeom just grunts and waves at them to leave. He's exhausted but even when they've left him, he still can't sleep. The dull pain in his side doesn't help either but he can't stop thinking. He can't stop thinking about Choi Youngjae.

It's clear that the guy isn't trustworthy, any idiot with half a brain cell can see that. There's no direct evidence that he's involved with the Clan, but him knowing Kim Taehyung isn't a coincidence, it can't be.

"Kim Taehyung..." Jaebeom mutters. "Kim fucking Taehyung...." He grins.

Kim Taehyung is exactly who he needs right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2jae? Did you guys feel the 2jae? I tried.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's updating instead of doing homework again? :DDDD
> 
> I'm taking procrastination to a whole new level but I'm a sucker for Woochan and Sana in general so here we are

As soon as Mina assures him that she'll take care of the 'guests', Woojin is gone. He heads to the second floor, relieved that Jaebeom and Jackson didn't feel the need to lecture and possibly punish him for his disobedience during the interrogation. 

Before they remember, Woojin dashes towards his room and flies in, flopping onto the couch, seeking solace. In this case, solace comes in the form of the one and only Bang Chan. 

“Woah, woah! What’s going on?” Chan laughs as Woojin flops onto the couch and lays himself on the other’s lap without warning.

Woojin says nothing, staring up at him, exhausted.

Christopher. Chan. His leader.

Im Jaebeom is their employer. The boss and leader of the _company_ that they work for. Woojin respects him and everything he's given them but his true leader will always be this man right here.

This man, who smiles and laughs every day despite the harsh reality of their lives. The man who reassures his team through every hopeless moment, every time they're close to breaking. This man with his unquestionable, unshakable resolve, who isn't afraid to be harsh and lead even when he might not be so put together. It's something Woojin can never be more grateful for.

This man, Bang Chan, is his true leader. 

“Do I have something on my face?” Chan chuckles after a beat of silence.

“No…Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, they were worried about you but Jisung told us what happened.” Chan sighs. “How’s the leader?”

“He’s fine. He woke up sooner than I expected, so he'll heal fast....We have a problem though.”

“Besides him getting shot by someone possibly connected to the Clan?”

Woojin frowns. "How do you know that? The only ones who are supposed to know right now are Jackson-hyung, BamBam, Jaebeom-hyung, and.....Changbin told you, didn't he?"

“Of course,” Chan smiles, stroking the other’s hair softly. “He briefed me as he was doing it. Just because we work for Jaebeom and Jinyoung-hyungs doesn't mean my team stops reporting to me. Stray Kids' safety and connectivity is always top priority.”

“I told you I don’t like that name,” Woojin sighs, but there’s no malice behind his words. The fingers running through his head are slowly lulling him to sleep.

Chan shrugs. "I think it's kind of accurate though."

"Seungmin, Hyunjin, Minho, Jisung, and Jeongin all still have parents."

"Minho's parents suck, Jisung's parents still think he's studying overseas, and I'm pretty sure Hyunjin's parents only let him go because he somehow convinced them he's related to Jinyoung-hyung. And don't Jeongin's parents think he's--?"

"An intern at a music company, yeah,” Woojin admits. “He still has his parents though and he is technically an intern. We barely ever bring him out with us.”

“He’s been bugging me about that lately,” Chan sighs. “I think he changed his mind after hearing what happened to Jaebeom-hyung though.”

“Chan…” Woojin starts, grabbing his stroking hand to a halt.

“Hm?”

"I...I don't know Jaebeom-hyung is planning but it's going to be big. There are so many things going on a-and I know he didn't say it but there's going to be a war. This isn't the last time this happens and the hyungs aren't backing down and--"

"Hey," Chan stops him, scowling. "It's okay. We aren't either. We'll always be nine or none but Jaebeom and Jinyoung-hyung gave us that opportunity in the first place. We won't let them down. This place, these people are our family too and keeping that together keeps us together. It's nine or none, always."

Chan cups his hands around Woojin's face, gentle but firm in the way he strokes the soft skin. Woojin finds himself sighing softly in relief against those hands but he still isn't fully at ease.

He came into the room full of doubt and apprehension and it's not so easily swayed. He knows how to fight but he is not a fighter, not like the rest of them are. He isn't out there every day, dealing with dangerous, cruel people that won't hesitate to take from him the only things he holds dear. He's left behind, by choice, to worry and hope all day that nothing happens to them, that they'll come back to him, safe and sound.

"I know...Can you promise me something, Chan?"

"What is it?"

"Promise me you'll be safe," Woojin pleads, his eyes glimmering with rare tears that threaten to fall. "I- don't...I don't think I could handle it if one day it's one....one of you I have to operate on. I-I can't, I-I don't want to....Please stay safe. All of you." 

The nine of them are family. They're his family, his best friends, the people he cares about the most in this world. He knows their line of work, experiences it first-hand, and knows the dangers but he can't help but want to be assured that they'll all be okay. He needs it. 

“Of course, Woojinnie.” Chan smiles now, eyes soft as he gives an even softer kiss to the other’s forehead. “I promised I’d never leave anyone behind, that I would never let anything happen to them and I intend to keep that promise."

Woojin nods, bringing Chan's hands down to grip them in his own. His leader always knows what to say. 

"Your hands are so cold," Woojin mutters, laughing softly.

"I was waiting for you to come back," Chan admits, sheepish. "I wanted to cuddle.

Woojin laughs again, moving to hug the other close. It's hard for Channie to sleep sometimes but they all know it's easier when he has someone to hug him. It's so cute. 

 

**

 

“Oppa, are you going to sleep yet?” Is the first thing Sana asks after they've been kicked out of Jaebeom's office/bedroom. The man sleeps more on those couches than he does his own bed.

Mark shakes his head. "Nope. It's only midnight, I've still got like three hours left in me."

"Ah, okay. I'm gonna do a quick lap around and make sure everyone is okay before going to bed!"

Mark lets out a small smile. Sana is...a little weird but it doesn't change the fact that she's one of the most genuinely caring members of JYP Nation. He loves his family but there's no way he'd go back and check on all of them every night. That's what phones are for but for Sana it's an almost daily trip, so he let's her do her thing. It's sweet.

“OKay, don't make too much noise or else Jaebeom'll lose it....Actually, make as much noise as possible," he grins. It's so fun to mess with the leader.

"No, he needs his rest. He did get shot," Sana points out but then chuckles. "Maybe tomorrow though."

Mark's grin widens. Sana is arguably one of his favorite people, they operate on the same wavelength. They bid each other good night after getting to the second floor though, Mark headed to scream at video games for another couple of hours while Sana starts her tour.

"Knock, knock," She calls softly, waiting for the first door to open. "Jackson oppa?"

He's someone she always checks on. As a fellow foreigner, she's felt a certain kinship with him ever since they met. He works a lot too, sometimes too much, so usually she comes in with tea. They chat for a while together until the drink lulls him to sleep but is it possible he's actually asleep already?

"He did just come back from China," Sana mumbles to herself. "Jackson oppa, I'm coming in!" She whisper-yells as she prys the door open.

She pushes slowly, wincing at the creak before peeking and seeing that sure enough, Jackson Wang is asleep and resting. Snoring, even! It's a miracle and she takes a moment to celebrate, happy for him. It's about time her friend treated himself to a good night's sleep and by midnight, no less!

"Sleep well," she calls out quietly and leaves him be.

On to the next stop~!

The good thing about the dorm part of the building is that it's on a single floor. The second floor is big, filled with enough rooms for everyone to have their own space. Most people share though.

Like her good friend, Bang Chan! Chan and his roommate/friend/possible lover, Woojin! He might be asleep by now but knowing Chan, the night's barely started for him. If Jackson has trouble resting, Bang Chan has trouble closing his eyes for even just one second. It's gotten better lately but they've been friends for a longer time and Sana knows insomnia isn't easily combated. So, she skips towards his room, ready to spend a bit of the night catching up with her good friend.

It's been a while since they've talked, she'd been in Japan for a good two months before coming back to this....mess of things going on right now. Hopefully, she could talk to Chan about it all. He's a good leader.

"Knock, Knock!" She greets. "Bang Chan!"

“…”

“…”

She frowns. Now, _that_ is strange. Chan is ALWAYS awake at this hour. Did something happen? Is something wrong or was he actually...?

“Chan,” Sana calls again, knocking softly. “Chan, are you there?”

No response. She puts an ear against the door, straining to hear even a slight stirring but gets nothing. Chan's usually up and watching TV, playing games, reading, something! She gets nothing though. Just silence....Was Chan actually asleep? This she had so see.

"Chan, I don't know if you're asleep or just listening to music but I'm coming in. Please be decent!" she announces softly, pushing the door open gently. " _Oh..._ "

Her friend was here all right, he's the first thing you see when you open the door. Him and Woojin, cuddled together on the couch, snoring.

“Aww, Chan,” Sana coos and dances happily to herself. This was so cute, this was the best thing she could ask for! Not only was her friend finally sleeping peacefully but he was protected and safe in the arms of someone who loved him! She's pretty sure it's love, at least.

Chan changes the subject every time she brings it up, so she's always suspected something between the two. She knows for sure now but she won't tease. Chan'll figure it out on his own. He deserves a little happiness in his life....She does take a picture for her own personal archive of embarassing/cute pictures though. 

She's only human, after all.

“Sleep well, Channie.” She whispers, covering them with a nearby blanket, surprised neither boy has stirred yet. They must’ve been tired...Woojin did operate on the leader today.

Speaking of leaders…

She always saves the best for last.

Her round trip through the dorms is fun. She doesn't talk to everyone every night but when she does, she gets to sit with them in peace for a moment before the day takes over again. It's a small comfort for them and for her. It makes them all feel a little bit more normal. The simple, silly conversations she initiates with them all is something she'll never tire of because she knows those mundane conversations make everyone feel a little bit of relief.

They'll have to get up the next day and dive straight into their work but Sana likes to think that they know she'll be there every night to alleviate the days tension. She likes to think that they know they can count on her to unwind and confide in.

Their lives aren't awful but it certainly isn't the thrilling, glamorized adventure the TV shows make it out to be. This is real for them. The pain, the struggle, the abandonment, and the _cruelty_ that brought them here is real. 

This life is real for them.

Sana herself has a past she'd rather forget and she knows almost all of them here do too. Chan's love is something that's been taken advantage of so horridly. Marks family is something he's almost died for. Jackson's is something that's been exploited in an unthinkable way.

They all have something that led them here, led them to this life. 

All of them had this life, this path dealt to them. It's hard, the harsh reality of their lives and the circumstances that have led them here, but it doesn't always have to be like that. They all deserve a little bit love, some comfort, a moment of calm. Everyone has their anchor, after all.

"Knock, knock," Sana calls out for the third and final time that night.

"Come in!"

"You're still awake?" Sana pushes in, smiling.

"I was waiting for everyone to go to bed but Chaeyoung said you went up to see Jaebeom," Jihyo explains, gathering herself from the couch with a tired smile. 

A tired, beautiful, dazzling, perfect smile. A smile Sana would gladly fight and die for, although she knows if any of them were to die, it would disappear and never come back. That's something she never wants to think about though because she knows it could happen to any of them. She never wants to think or even imagine the look of utter _sorrow_ , the endless tears, the pain across her leader, her _lovers'_ , face should she lose any of her family. 

"We can sleep now though," Jihyo continues, unaware of Sana's thoughts. 

Sana refuses to let her worry. She won't let anything happen to her or any of their family. Ever.

She smiles. "Let's sleep, my leader." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be like me y'all I have about 7 assignments all due this weekend and I've only started on two and it's already Thursday night :')
> 
> I hope this chapter was cute though and not too boring~


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, I feel like it's been a while since I've updated but that's life for you. Always keeping us from the things that we love but never enough that we want to give them up. That sounds dramatic and philosophical jsjksjsk I'm sorry. Enjoy the chapter uwu

Night passes quickly when you can’t find it in yourself to sleep.

Youngjae's never had trouble sleeping before but it had been a day of firsts, so it didn't surprise him when the clock on his phone hit one in the morning and he still felt wide awake. He was tired, yes, but his mind hadn't been able to shut down yet. He wish he'd have passed out almost instantly like Yugyeom and Coco but his thoughts were plagued with Im Jaebeom and his people.

Im Jaebeom, Jackson, BamBam, Woojin, Mina, and Kim Taehyung. These were the names he'd amassed so far and not one of them meant anything.

Im Jaebeom is the guy, the mob boss who'd gotten shot and was now keeping him and his friend captive. Kim Taehyung was just some fucking guy he'd gone to school with years ago that he all but forgot about. Youngjae barely remembers him but the fact that he'd asked Youngjae out was apparently a big enough connection to die over.

The rest of the names were people who worked for Jaebeom, subordinates and employees. They were insanely loyal, that much was clear. Even Mina, the only person who seemed to feel guilty about anything, wasn't able to break her devotion to the guy.

This whole thing had gotten out of hand so quickly. Its only been a day and everything has already spiraled out of control and Youngjae and Yugyeom were just swept up in the madness. Youngjae didn't understand why they were still here if it was somehow confirmed that they had nothing to do with this world. He could tell things were going to get even messier and he'd like to be long fucking gone before that wreck hit.

It's infuriating that they aren't in on whatever elaborate scheme is playing out right underneath them. They're clueless, Youngjae is absolutely lost as to what's going on. All he knows so far is that someone tried to kill a mob boss and that they thought that person was him or Kim Taehyung or someone they both knew? Youngjae is barely sure about that. The only thing he definitively knows is that this isn't his problem. He can't help but feel pissed that they're being kept in the dark though, especially after having been interrogated and threatened like they were. He and Yugyeom had their lives played with for hours and now these people wanted to keep them locked up? Basically KIDNAPPED? 

“They can’t keep us here,” Youngjae mutters to himself in the dark, scowling. “They can’t.”

It isn’t until almost three in the morning that Youngjae finally feels himself drifting into sleep.

 

**

 

The last thing Youngjae sees when he finally passes out is a faint beam of moonlight shining through the window. The first thing when he wakes up though, is the very clear sight and sound of a barking and bustling Coco.

“Coco, no,” he groans. He doesn’t check his phone but knows it has to be close to nine. Coco always wakes up around nine for her morning walk and it seems today is no different.

“Hyung,” Yugyeom whines from the other couch across the room. “Make her stop.”

“She needs her morning walk,” Youngjae sighs, sitting up. So much for sleep. “And in case you forgot, we’re still stuck here.”

“Don’t remind me,” Yugyeom mumbles into one of the cushions. His sleep had been restless and brief. There was no way he’d forgotten about the predicament they were in.

“Coco, please. Stop,” Youngjae pleads but his daughter pays him no heed.

She yips and barks and it echoes around them with surprising force. Her tiny feet pitter and patter across the room, going back and forth between Youngjae and the door. She throws herself at it every time, jumping up and whining loudly to signal at anyone who’ll listen.

“Hyung, please,” Yugyeom whines again and Youngjae finally sighs in defeat.

He picks Coco up when she makes her way back to him, sitting her in his lap. “We can’t go out yet,” he says, sternly when she continues to bark. “I don’t know even know where we are and—”

He gets cut off by the door suddenly swinging open and someone sauntering in, protesting.

“I’m sorry, but if you don’t shut up like RIGHT NOW I’m gonna have to—AH! Who are you?!”

“What the hell is wrong with your face?!” Yugyeom practically screeches at the person.

“It’s a rose-water based mask designed to look like— I DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF TO YOU!” The young man screeches in return but Youngjae is kind of horrified too. The peachy-pink gunk spread over the boys face looks clumpy and gross, like he's malnourished.

“It looks like you stuck your face in a bowl of soggy pink cereal!” Yugyeom gags.

“Yugyeom!” Youngjae scolds. They don't even know this kid is or who he works for or what he's even doing here and the first thing Yugyeom does is insult him like they aren't in enough trouble already!

“Says the one with the gaping pores,” the boy huffs, making a face before turning to Youngjae with a pout. "Can you shut your dog up, please? Normally, I love doggies, but I can't handle the yelling this early in the morning." 

“Wh-Wh-- I'm sorry? Uh, who are you?"

This kid can't be any older than nineteen or twenty, if that. Why is there such a young kid here? Doesn't he know what this place is...? Does he actually live here? He looks like he's barley woken up based on the pajamas, facemask, and the headband holding his hair back, but...

“Hyunjin~!” A different voice calls out.

“I found the dog!” The boy, Hyunjin, yells back.

“Oooh, a dog?!” Another boy runs in now, eyes locking on a now quiet Coco immediately. “Can I pet her, please?!!”

“Uh, s-sure. I guess just—” Youngjae doesn’t even finish speaking when the brunette rushes forward, bending down to giggle and coo at Coco and her ‘funny little face’. Why does everyone think his daughter has a funny face?! She’s cute, not funny looking!

“You’re so cute!” The boy squeals. “Why were you barking so much, did she need to go out?” He looks up at Youngjae with eyes that look almost as puppy-like as his daughters.

“Yeah…She needs her morning walk but—Wait, what’s going on? I’m sorry but who are you two? D-Do you live here?”

“And do you know if we can leave yet?” Yugyeom adds.

The two boys frowns.

“Leave? Why can’t you leave?” The brunette asks, head tilted in that puppy-like way again.

“Oh, my god...” the other says, eyes widening dramatically like he’s finally seeing them. “Oh my god. Seungmin, let’s go.”

“What, why?” Seungmin whines. “I wanna play with the dog!”

“No, we need to go. Now!” Hyungjin demands, dragging the other with him when he doesn’t budge.

“W-Wait!” Yugyeom says, moving to stand. “What’s going on, what’s wrong?!”

Seungmin starts to speak but his friend cuts him off, slamming the door behind them harshly. There's muffled yelling and shuffling from outside until it fades slowly as the two boys all but dash away.

“What...what just happened?" Yugyeom says, when it's finally quiet. 

“I-I don’t know. I didn’t know there were kids here, they looked like teenagers. Do you think…?”

“That they’re someone’s kids?” Yugyeom shrugs, more confused than ever. “Should we...try to leave though?”

“What?!"

“The room, I mean.” Yugyeom clarifies when Youngjae gives him a look of surprise. “I think they left the door open and Coco does need to go…”

“I guess so..." 

The only other option they really had was to endure a barking, relentless Coco and they'd have to deal with the accident she'd surely have if they didn't take her out. It's a good thing he'd been training her but Youngjae keeps his daughter in his arms as they exit the room. They look around, apprehensive and searching for any sign of life, but the floor seems abandoned and they make their way to what looks like the elevator.

“Do you know where to go?" Yugyeom asks, eyes still dashing around frantically like they'll be ambushed by kids or those guys again.

“I think we’re on the second floor. The elevator went down to come here last night, so maybe just take the elevator again?”

They sort of remember the way or at least Youngjae thinks he does. Turns out there are five floors and a basement level if the elevator buttons are anythign to go by. They make it to the first floor safely but it's unnerving. No one appears, no one stops them, there are no signs of life around them whatsoever.

“Can we just walk out the door?" Yugyeom points to the double doors across what seems to be a lobby.

It's rather...fancy. The whole floor is decorated like a hotel or bank lobby with pristine white tiles and grey couches and silver tables set up in the corner. There's even a vending machine and TV mounted on the wall across what looks like a receptionists desk near the doors.

“Someone would’ve stopped us by now if we weren't supposed to,” Youngjae points out.

Im Jaebeom had been more than clear about them not leaving last night, but he wasn't here now, was he? That condescending bastard. If he and his people had problems with them taking out Coco than they'd better do it themselves because one thing Youngjae wasn't going to let them mess with is his daughter.

“I guess so,” Yugyeom mumbles. “Let’s go then, I could use some fresh air.”

 

**

 

“I can't BELIEVE you did that! I was in the middle of playing with a doggy! Are you gonna tell me what's going on, or--?!"

“Shh! Seungminnie, we’re going to get in trouble!” Hyunjin whines as he continues dragging his friend back to their room. It isn’t until they reach the safety of that particular room that Hyunjin finally lets up, but Seungmin is still riled up about being pulled away from a cute dog.

“That was rude Hyunjinnie! Me and that dog were having a moment, we were connecting! You can’t just take a guy away from—!”

“Dog? What dog?”

“Seungmin, I told you to shush!” Hyunjin cries but it’s too late. They’ve been caught. “H-Hi, Felix! Good morning!”

“What are you guys talking about?” Felix frowns, lips pursed in suspicion.

“N-Nothing!” Hyunjin squeaks, immediately kicking himself for the way his voice cracks. He has no problem lying and impersonating for missions and work but he can't even lie to his friend?! How does that even make sense?!

“I thought you were on guard duty today,” Seungmin speaks up.

“I am, I just forgot to grab my phone and text Changbinnie good morning, so-- I mean, stop changing the subject! What are you two up to?!" Felix demands, flustered at the fact that he was so easily distracted by the mention of his boyfriend.

“H-Hiding? We’re not hiding anything Lix, really!” Hyunjin lets out a forced laugh.

"I never said anything about hiding Hyunjin."

"DID I SAY HIDING?! I-UH, MEANT--"

"You said something about a dog, but there's no way there's a dog in the building. Jaebeom-hyung only allows cats, so what's going on?"

"Yeah, that's why I was surprised to see one!" Seungmin explains and Hyunjin whines again, almost slapping him. DOES HE NOT UNDERSTAND THE WORDS SHUSH?!

"He doesn't know what he's talking about, he's crazy! Just ignore him!" Hyunjin laughs nervously.

"Hey!" The brunette protests. "I know I saw the dog, you're the one who found it! It was in that room with those two guys!"

"Two guys?" Felix frowns. "What the hell are you-- Wait a minute...Please tell me you two didn't go into the ONLY room we were specifically told NOT to go in?!"

"Oh..." Seungmin chuckles awkwardly, the situation finally making sense. "That explains why they said they couldn't leave...Oops."

“That's why I told you to shush!" Hyunjin cries, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands. He still has that ugly face mask on. "Now Felix has to report to the hyungs that we went in and saw them! They were supposed to see as little of our people as possible!"

“You guys had literally one job,” Felix groans. This was not going to be fun to explain to Jaebeom or Jackson. Or Chan, oh god. Their leader _hates_ when they disobey orders.

“Do you think Chan-hyung is going to make us run drills all day again?” Seungmin sighs, already pouting at the thought of their leader's punishments.

Hyunjin groans, collapsing onto the couch dramatically. They were in for it now.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Calling my fellow aghases!! Vote for GOT7 on BillBoard's Top Social Artist Category!!
> 
> https://www.billboard.com/bbmasvote#telescope_app
> 
> Or you can vote on Twitter by tweeting #BBMAsTopSocial and GOT7 (no other hashtags)!! 
> 
> Let's get our boys another win uwu <3

To say he’s in pain is an understatement.

His body feels like one giant bruise that won't stop aching and it fucking hurts.

For once, he's glad he coordinates out of his office because as much as he hates to admit it, there's no way Jaebeom is getting up and about like he wants to. Luckily, one of the perks of being the big boss is that people always come to you.

Good thing too because his big office is currently occupied by nine people, including himself, and he's sure that number will rise and fall plenty throughout the day as people come reporting to him.

“Aren’t we missing someone?” Sana asks, pointing and counting everyone.

“Felix went to get something but he'll be back soon,” Chan assures.

“Is it really necessary for him to be here? I told you, I don't need a bodyguard," BamBam grumbles for the thousandth time that morning.

“I don't either," Jackson scowls. "I can take care of myself, no offense Minho."

The boy shakes his head. "I understand, hyung."

“If I have to have a guard on me at all times then so do you two." Jaebeom winces as he adjusts himself behind his desk. God, didn't they have stronger pain killers?

“Minho and Felix know what they're doing. I trained them." Momo declares from her position next to the leader.

No one questions her. They're all familiar enough with Momo's history to not challenge her. She's the best bodyguard in this industry and every other. There's no way anything or anyone would get to Jaebeom under her watch.

“I don't think it's necessary for me to be here either," Mark pipes up, frowning. "I already briefed you last night Jaebeom."

“It's because you and Sana were the last ones to talk with Jeongyeon and Jinyoung-ssi," Jihyo explains.

“And we need to have an actual meeting about the situation. All of us. Hyung." Jaebeom adds when he sees Marks pointed look at the lack of honorifics.

“Let’s get this meeting started then.” Momo gestures to Minho. “Stand guard outside with Felix when he gets here. No one comes in, including you two.”

The boy nods again and bows to his seniors before leaving, shutting the door behind him and letting them get to business.

“BamBam," Jaebeom says. "You go first." 

The Thai man nods. "My meeting in Thailand finished in three days although we anticipated a week-long discussion. When I got there, the contract was already laid out and signed by the other side but there were still a few things to discuss. I know Jeongyeon assured things weren't going to be easy but it went well, there were no disagreements or fights or anything."

"And you didn't think that was weird?" Mark gives another pointed look. 

"I figured three out of the five or six days allotted wasn't too bad," BamBam mumbles, but he knows its a flimsy excuse. He should've known better, should've sensed something was off immediately like Jinyoung had. 

"I wasn't any better," Jackson admits with a scowl. "The same thing happened to me. Jinyoung said I shouldn't rule other alternative measure going on but it only took three days. BamBam and I got back here almost within minutes of each other." 

“That is weird," Sana frowns. She isn't as big of an intelligence and connections person as Jeongyeon is, but she had her fair share of foreign sources too and her friends' stories were definitely not adding up with what she'd heard through the grapevine. 

“We are dealing with the Clan here,” Chan reminds them.

"It was a tactic...It was a tactic to take them both out at the same time." Momo stiffens as her voice goes hard. "And to lure someone out. Jeongyeon and Jinyoung." 

All eyes turn to Jaebeom and he nods, solemn. 

"I was the first target. Jinyoung and Jeongyeon in Hong Kong, Jackson and BamBam here. Then, they'd pick off anyone associated with us or turn them if they hadn't already." 

There's a beat of angry, tense silence passing between them all as they realize just how far this has gone. The Clan wasn't just trying to push them out. They want to eradicate JYP Nation and any trace of it. 

“That explains last night,” Mark finally mumbles.

BamBam frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Last night when you all had those two guys locked up, Jinyoung and Jeongyeon called. They needed Sana and I to get them out of Hong Kong because there was a hit out on them from one of the companies we're supposedly allied with. They barely made it out." 

“They mentioned a Xu Minghao,” Sana adds. 

“I know him,” Jacksons says, eyes narrowed in slight disbelief. "There's no way he'd betray us, he's too smart for that. He's a power hungry guy, there's no way he'd concede to working with the Clan when he knows he could ally with us." 

“You can't be sure of that," Momo interjects. "For all we know, the Clan is offering him a better deal than we can afford to give." 

"That's true," Chan points out, choosing his next words carefully. "...I'm pretty sure you remember the offers my team has gotten from them." 

Everyone glares just a little bit harder at that particular memory. It was no secret that Chan's team was talented, especially for a rookie force in the underground world, they'd gotten plenty of offers from different operations. In the end, he chose JYP Nation though." 

“You're all right. I only talked to Jinyoung with Jinyoung for a bit but he assured me Xu Minghao isn't going to be a problem. The current director is the one who allied himself with the Clan, but this Minghao guy is planning on overthrowing and taking power for himself. I want eyes on him and his actions at all times though." Jaebeom doesn't trust someone with that much ambition. 

“I know someone in the area. They’re completely neutral and could see about getting hired in the building,” Jihyo offers.

“Is it someone on our list?”

“No,” Jihyo admits. “I can assure you she’s neutral though, she won’t even be fully aware of the situation.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Jaebeom glares. He doesn’t want another mess-up.

“It’s my great-aunt. She’s sixty-three and lives with her two sisters. She takes odd jobs to keep herself entertained, she’d be happy to take one in a nice, big building.”

“…Fine. Coordinate with Sana later today.”

Jihyo nods but then frowns. “What's the situation with the two guys who were brought in? Some of us haven't been completely informed yet." 

Jaebeom bristles. He doesn't exactly feel like reliving the humiliation of getting shot but he doesn't really have a choice. Luckily, Jackson saves him. 

“Their names our Choi Youngjae and Kim Yugyeom. They were brought in because they were witnesses on the western fringe during the incident. Hyung was at their apartment. We originally thought Choi Youngjae was an agent under Kim Taehyung and the Clan but that wasn't the case. We didn't find anything on Kim Yugyeom but we're still looking into both of them. It seems like they just have bad luck, but it can't be a coincidence that one of them has a connection to Kim Taehyung." 

"It's not a coincidence," Jaebeom continues. "Jinyoung briefly told me that Kim Taehyung was actually trying to get in touch with the guy. He was supposed to contract that guy or something but he failed. That's where Xu Minghao and his people stepped in but as we can see, they failed too." 

"What makes you think Choi Youngjae and Xu Minghao aren't still lying though?" Jihyo's face is uncharacteristically grave but that's who she is. She's the perspective, the voice that makes them think from every angle, even when they don't want to. 

"I could do an in-depth search on Xu Minghao," Mark suggests. "Changbin has the other two guys covered." 

"He's been reporting to me since last night and he hasn't found anything we don't already know," Chan says. "Woojin says--" 

"Where is Woojin?" 

"He had a class early this morning. He'll be back later today but he said he wasn't able to find anything useful from the surgery. He might be late for your check-up hyung, he's picking up some medicine today too." 

Jaebeom says nothing. He just sits and observes the people around him, his people. He can tell he's making them uncomfortable with the way Sana shifts in her seat, BamBam refusing to look at him, and even Jackson seems concerned, the crease between his brows making him look far older. 

Jaebeom knows they're waiting for him to speak but he doesn't. He gives them a moment to process it all, the full story, all the information they had. He needed them to understand the extent of what was happening and the reality of what was going to follow. 

“I know we didn’t expect this to happen,” he starts. “It's been years since we've had problems, _real_ problems, with rival groups and operations. Not since the beginning of JYP Family when Jinyoung and I took over did we have shit like this happening. And back then it happened on an almost daily basis, people putting prices on our heads, coming after us and everyone involved. I can't say I know the Clan because I don't. Not very many people do, but there's one thing I do know. _We aren't fucking going anywhere_." 

“The Clan wants to push us out because they know they’re dying in their own territory. They're stuck and they need to expand and they want to take us out to do it. They want to push us out because they know we're the only other reign for miles and they think they can get away with it. _They fucking can't_. They can't and they know it, which is why they're gathering support from every corner of the world. They know they can't take us on by themselves and so do we. Jinyoung and I may have started this operation, but we've never done shit alone." 

He turns to Bang Chan and Jihyo with his usual scowl, but with a hint of appreciation in his stare. 

"You two and your teams are unquestionable, irreplaceable assets to this operation. I may not talk directly with each person in your groups, but we've always had a mutual respect and that's all that matters. I'm not getting into any sentimental bullshit, so just know that you've all been apart of JYP Family from the moment you entered." 

Jihyo and Chan nod, grateful for the acknowledgment. That’s honestly the best they could hope for from the leader.

“That being said,” Jaebeom continues. “This isn’t going to be easy. The Clan is ahead of us. They've been setting things into motion while we've been sitting on our ass, thinking everything is fine. We need to stop them, counter them, or catch up to them by whatever means necessary. Eliminate them or bring them to their knees until they fucking beg, I don't care." 

"Whatever it takes."He repeats, staring at every single one of them until they nod. “Whatever it takes, because there is no way that JYP Nation, JYP Family is going to be pushed out by anyone." 

_"Ever.”_


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been about a million years but thats fine I'm glad I came back to see people are still liking this fic thank you so much yall fr :') <3
> 
> also a note: stan everglow

“Chan-hyung is going to kill us.”

“Us? That’s sounds like a lot of people.”

“You know he believes in team punishment!”

“Last time I checked, it was Hyunjin and Seungmin who messed up.”

“And what about me?! I have to deliver the bad news and he’s going to kill me for that!”

“True…Nice knowing you, our relationship was fleeting but fun.”

“CHANGBIN!”

“FELIX!” The other boy replies, mocking and Felix groans.

“I hate you sometimes."

“Love you too," Changbin says sweetly.

Felix just groans again. His boyfriend can be so sweet, a literal baby, yet heartless. He called Changbin for some sympathy/to complain but apparently his concern only extended to when Felix was out in the field. The fact that their leader was most certainly going to kill them wasn't a concern, even though Bang Chan was scarier than any mobster Felix had ever encountered. 

“Why are you going to check on those guys again? There’s no reason to.”

“I have to!" Felix sighs. "None of us were supposed to get near them but Seungmin and Hyunjin al...ready..." 

“…”

“…Felix? What’s wrong? Felix, answer me!” Changbin yells when there's no response.

“We’re screwed hyung," his boyfriend says softly.

“What are you talking about?”

“They’re gone.”

Changbin frowns to himself. "Gone? What do you mean gone? You can't just leave the building, they'd have to get past Nayeon and like a billion security cameras!" 

“Hyung, they’re gone. Hyung, I-I think Hyunjin and Seungmin forgot to—oh my god—they forgot to lock the fucking door behind them!”

"Shit," Changbin curses. This was not good. Before, he could've gotten away with shifting the blame to those two, maybe even sacrifice Felix, but this was worse. Chan was definitely going to punish all nine of them now. 

“Yeah, shit! Shit is right, hyung! We’re in deep shit!" Felix yells, his bad habit of cursing under pressure coming out. 

“Calm down, Lix. They can't have gone that far," Changbin assures but even he is having trouble staying level-headed. "THey can't have gone that far. I've been running background checks on them since last night and they aren't the clever type. 

“I-I have to tell the hyungs," Felix sighs. They were going to have his head for this if Chan didn't kill them all first. "I'll call you back, I need to tell them." 

“Keep your phone on. I'm checking the cameras, so I'll text you if I see something. They can't have gone far Lix, it's okay." 

“Yeah…Yeah, I hope so. Love you.”

“I love you too.”

They hang up but despite Changbin’s assurance, Felix isn't able to shake the steady feeling of dread that rises as he makes his way to Jaebeoms fifth floor office. Not only was the whole team going to be punished by Chan, but Jaebeom was going to be pissed at them, which in turn will make Chan's rage even worse. They were so screwed. 

“Felix? Finally,” Minho greets him outside the office. “What took you so long? They started the meeting like fifteen minutes ago.”

To Felix’s credit, he tried really hard to semi-compose himself and not just blurt out the first thing on his mind. To Felix’s credit though, he was really fucking nervous.

“We’re screwed hyung.” Is all he says, watching as Minho’s face morphs from one of confusion to irritation.

“What are you talking about Felix? What happened?”

“We’re screwed, hyung!” He cries and Minho shushes him, glancing behind the closed doors nervously. 

"What the hell are you talking about?!" He whispers. 

"Seungmin and Hyunjin!" Felix explains. "Those two guys hyungs brought in! Seungmin and Hyunjin went into their room and they forgot to lock the door and when I went to check, no one was there anymore. We're screwed, hyung! Chan-hyung is going to kill us and so is Jaebeom-hyung!" 

Minho curses, frantic hand tossing his brown locks. They boasted all the time about being nine or none and this punishment was bout to show it. Shit. 

“It's not even ten yet! What were they doing up in the first place?!" He hisses. 

“There was a dog with one of the guys and it kept barking, so it woke them up." Felix sighs, exasperated. "I didn't even know Jaebeom-hyung allowed dogs in here!" 

“He doesn’t, he’s allergic. God knows how that one got past him,” Minho grumbles. “Felix, you have to let Chan-hyung know so he can tell the rest of them. Unless you want to tell Jaebeom-hyung direcctly," He says when he sees the panicked look on Felix's face. 

Felix would rather tell no one, would rather this all go away, or pretend it never happened. Sadly, he has none of those options so he opts for Chan. The lesser of two evils. Barely. 

“Just text him, you don't have to go in there," Minho suggests but Felix just groans again.

“God, this is so fucked!”

**

Describing an angry Bang Chan as scary was a major understatement. The man is a naturally playful, smiling individual that always treats his team and everyone else with respect and that's exactly what makes his switch into anger terrifying. 

Angry Chan isn’t just scary. Angry Chan is fucking terrifying. His smile disappears like it was never there, his eyes go dark, and the normally cheerful tone turns into a low growl and rasp that doesn't cease until his problem has been fix and culprits punished. 

In this case, angry, growly Chan wasn't going anywhere for a couple of days. 

“Chan, what’s wrong?” Jihyo asks, voice laced with concern when she notices the other gripping his phone tightly and cursing under his breath.

“What, what’s going on?” Jackson frowns, eyes scanning the room for danger.

“Is something wrong Chan?" Jaebeom scowls. After that speech, he'd figured the boy would be a bit happy that he and his team were acknowledged and even praised. 

Chan takes a deep breath. He runs a stiff hand through his hair before steadying his voice. The words that come out are cold and calm, but his eyes are seething and no one fails to notice the tautness of his body and way his teeth grind as he spits out the dreaded news. 

“We have a problem.”

Jaebeoms eyes go wide and he growls. "What kind of fucking problem?" As if they didn't have enough problems already. 

“Those two guys you had on the second floor…” Chan resists the urge to look away from Jaebeoms glare. 

“What about them?” Jaebum spats. “Spit it out Chan. Now.”

Chan takes another deep breath, ready for the barrage that he knows is coming. Those kids were going to be beyond in for it after this and not just from him. Jaebeom too. 

"They aren't there anymore," he finally spits out. "Felix was on his way here and when he went to check on them, the door was open and the room was empty." 

"And do you want to explain to me how they managed to get out when the door was LOCKED?!" Jaebeom belts, seething. 

The room goes quiet, eyes trained anywhere but on Bang Chan and Jaebeom. Jihyo stares into her lap, gulping quietly and hoping Chan won't say what they all know he's going to. 

"It's my fault," Chan says, almost confidently but they all know it's not. He's just being a leader. "It's my teams fault." 

The room stays silent, the air heavy with dread. Jaebeoms low curses are the only thing reverberating off the walls, hissing. 

He's pissed. Beyond pissed. He's just finished an entire speech about how all of them working together could solve this Clan problem and how talented Jihyo and Chan's teams were and then this shit happens. How do they expect to win if they can't follow simple orders and keep their shit together for more than three minutes?! 

“Jackson,” Jaebeom finally says, cutting through the silence with another growl. "Find them." 

Jackson nods. "Mark-hyung, could you coordinate with me and Nayeon? Assuming they got past her, we'll need you to check the local CCTV's." 

Mark groans internally. What is he gonna do, say no? Usually, he'd pass the assignment along to Changbin but that wasn't happening anytime soon and he didn't quite feel like invoking any more wrath in the room. "Yeah, fine." 

“I’ll have Felix and Minho on stand-by but not too close,” Momo says, already texting the two boys. “They’ll be ready to intercept if needed.”

“Jaebum-oppa,” Sana calls out softly, wincing when the leader turns his glare on her. “Jeongyeon and Jinyoung-oppa have just arrived in Bangkok. They're going to video-call later tonight to brief you properly before flying out again." 

“And I’ll get started on contacting my great-aunt in Hong Kong,” Jihyo adds, hoping to subside some of the leaders rage. 

Jaebeom says nothing, turning to BamBam next. "BamBam, you--" 

"Hyung." 

If an entire room could go cold, it would have to be this one. Despite the sunlight streaming through the windows, all warmth in the room vanishes the instant Chan decided to interrupt the leader. 

"Do you have something to say?" Jaebeom snarls, ready to lose it. 

Chan nods and to everyones surprise, walks towards the leader. He holds out his phone, offering it to Jaebeom. 

"They left the building but they aren't gone," he says. "They're behind the building with the dog they brought in. Chaeyoung can see them from the garage and Changbin has eyes on them as we speak." 

The room goes quiet for what feels like the millionth time that morning. They all let out a shaky breath of relief, but let nothing reflect in their faces. This still wasn't over. Jaebeom wasn't quick to forgive. 

“Momo,” Jaebeom scowls lowly. “Have Mina escort them here.”

The woman at his side tenses, face taut and it doesn't go unnoticed by everyone in their room, leader included. 

“Momo,” Jaebum repeats when she doesn't move. "Tell Mina to escort them back. Now." 

Her reluctant and defiant face betrays her, but nonetheless, Momo complies. "Fine....I'll go get her." 

Jaebum turns his displeasure to Chan. “And you,” he says. “This is the last time this happens.”

Chan swallows heavily, teeth gritted in embarrassment and rage. 

"Yes, hyung. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it seems like the story is moving along slowly but I promise it's gonna pick back up in these next few chapters. We've barely dipped into the actual plot of the story hehe


End file.
